Washington, DC [US]: Chinese President Xi Jinping is reportedly not expected to attend US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, despite receiving an invitation, according to CBS News.
Sources familiar with the planning indicated that China’s ambassador to the US, accompanied by his spouse, will attend the event in line with standard diplomatic protocol. Additional officials from Beijing may also join the ceremony, as reported by CBS News.
Diplomatic protocol is being carefully managed by designated staff on the inauguration team, although neither the Chinese embassy in Washington nor Trump’s transition team has commented on the matter.
In a statement on Thursday, Trump said, “We have a good relationship with China. I have a good relationship. We’ve been talking and discussing with President Xi some things.” He declined to elaborate further and was not directly questioned about Xi’s potential absence at the inauguration.
This development comes amid heightened tensions in US-China relations. The US intelligence community recently revealed a large-scale cyberattack targeting eight US telecom companies. The breach, allegedly orchestrated by Chinese actors, involved accessing metadata of millions of Americans, including high-ranking officials like Vice President-elect JD Vance.