China welcomes ‘old friend’ Terry Branstad as likely US envoy
Iowa governor, who has known China’s President Xi Jinping since 1985, welcome to play bigger role in Sino-US ties, says foreign ministry spokesman
Beijing said on Wednesday it welcomes Terry Branstad to play a stronger role in the Sino-US relationship, after the Republican governor of Iowa has been widely tipped to be the next US envoy to China.
But Chinese diplomatic observers warned that Beijing still needed to be cautious over how incoming US president Donald Trump, who takes office in less than two months, would pursue a China agenda that remained largely unclear.
“Branstad is an old friend of China and [we] welcome him to play a bigger role in China-US exchanges,” said Lu Kang, the spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The role of US ambassador to China serves as an important bridge in communication between China and the United States, and no matter who is picked, China would like to work together with him to push forward healthy and stable development of China-US relations.”
Lu was asked about a recent report by Bloomberg that cited three unnamed sources as saying that Trump had offered the post of US ambassador to China to Branstad, who has had a working relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping since 1985.
Citing sources, Bloomberg said on Wednesday that Branstad, who met with Trump in New York on Tuesday afternoon local time, accepted the offer and the decision.
However, Branstad’s communications director, Ben Hammes, was quoted as saying by Reuters that reports Trump had chosen Branstad as the next US envoy to China were “premature and not accurate”.
Branstad’s friendship with Xi was cited as a likely reason he was offered the post. He and Xi first met when the Chinese leader, then an agriculture official in a county in Hebei province, made his first trip to Iowa in 1985 during a sister-state exchange.
In 2011, Xi, then vice-president, again met with Branstad in Beijing when the Iowa governor paid a visit to China. In 2012, the two reunited again in Iowa when Xi visited the US.
Zhang Yuquan, a researcher in American studies at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, said appointing Branstad, with his personal ties to Xi, could be a sign Trump wanted to maintain good communications with Beijing.
The discussion of Branstad as ambassador comes at a time of heightened tension between Beijing and Washington following a talk between Trump and Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, whom Beijing believes wants formal independence for Taiwan.
Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, said the potential appointment could be an attempt by Trump to seek some balance in his relations with the mainland and Taiwan.
“It seems that he wants to keep good relations with Tsai and Xi at the same time, but we are not sure if he can make it, and need to wait and see.”
Analysts said that as it remained unclear how Trump would direct his China policy, Beijing should not be too optimistic.
They noted that US foreign policy was largely directed by presidents, although Congress had considerable influence.
“If [Trump’s] China policy is good and favours bilateral relations, the ambassador can play a positive role,” said Shi Yinghong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University.
“But if the China policy is not so good, then the influence of an ambassador could be very limited,” Shi said.
