WASHINGTON (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, but he is sending Vice President Han Zheng as his special representative.
The decision, announced Friday in China by the foreign ministry, came more than a month after Trump extended the unusual invitation to Xi, a break from tradition since no heads of state have previously made an official visit to the U.S. for the inauguration.
“We stand ready to work with the new U.S. government to enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly pursue a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relations and find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other,” the ministry’s spokesperson said when announcing the decision.
Other foreign leaders have spoken about being invited to Trump’s inauguration, including Argentinian President Javier Milei and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. The offices of Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña have also said they were invited and were planning to attend.
Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, said the move by Xi means “China is willing to forego protocol and cater to what Trump wants.”