GamesThe invitation from Donald Trump was extraordinary. "A foreign leader has never attended the inauguration of a US President," the US State Department declared following hours of searching through official documents going all the way back to 1874.
Washington, DC: The most well-known work by Chinese military leader, strategist, and philosopher Sun Tzu, who flourished about the fifth century BC, is "The Art of War." The saying "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer" is one that he included in it and is still well recognized today. When US President-elect Donald Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to his inauguration ceremony in Washington, DC, on January 20, he seemed to have taken a cue from Sun Tzu.
According to the most recent sources, President Xi, who may also be conversant with Sun Tzu's writings, studied Donald Trump's invitation carefully and graciously declined.
Officials in Washington and many others across the world were shocked by Donald Trump's extraordinary decision to invite the Chinese president. "A foreign leader has never attended the inauguration of a US President," the US State Department declared following hours of searching through official documents going all the way back to 1874.
In the midst of all the drama behind the scenes and at the White House, Karoline Leavitt, the spokesperson for Donald Trump, chose to speak with Fox News. According to Ms. Leavitt, who confirmed the invitation to Xi Jinping, "This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just allies but our adversaries and our competitors too."
She added that in addition to Xi Jinping, a number of other foreign leaders received invitations to Donald Trump's oath-taking ceremony, but they were not identified. Whether these "other invites" were sent on the same day as the one given to Xi Jinping or after Washington found out that the Chinese president would not be attending is still unknown.
On the opposite side of the world, however, Beijing officials have said nothing about the matter. However, as recently as Tuesday, President Xi issued a warning to Washington about the anticipated trade, tariff, and technology conflicts that will ensue when Trump takes office. President Xi met with the leaders of ten major international organizations, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization (WTO), in Beijing because he anticipated economic difficulties in the coming weeks and months.
In his remarks at that meeting, he warned the United States that "there will be no winners" as he discussed the trade restrictions, tech-bans, and tariff increases that Donald Trump has promised to put on China if he assumes power. Given the heated rhetoric and combative posture displayed by both Trump and Xi, the former's choice to invite the Chinese president to his inaugural ceremony does appear out of place and somewhat out of the ordinary.
Donald Trump has expressed conflicting opinions about Xi Jinping, referring to him as "a brilliant guy" at one point and his enemy at another. referring to China as "the greatest threat" but yet sending an invitation, as one would, to an ally.
"He controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist," Trump had remarked of President Xi in his pre-election podcast with Joe Rogan. Whether you like it or not, he's a really smart guy. However, he described China as the "threat of the century" and Xi Jinping as the "biggest threat to the world" in two separate interviews.
Mike Walz, Donald Trump's national security adviser, and Marco Rubio, his secretary of state, are both ardent anti-Chinese critics who have closely monitored Beijing's every move. In fact, the Chinese government has sanctioned Marco Rubio and banned him from entering the country in 2020; Beijing will need to reevaluate this when he assumes the position.
NSA-designate Mike Waltz has already called on President-elect Trump to "urgently end the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East in order to counter the greater threat from the Chinese Communist Party" only weeks before the Trump Administration officially begins. Now, everyone is waiting to see what Trump will do in response to the invitation rejection and what Xi Jinping will say in response. The endgame is a long way off.
