Chinese President Xi Jinping is unlikely to attend the US presidential inauguration in January despite an invitation from Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the planning.
China’s ambassador to the US is expected to attend and other officials from Beijing may also join him, the sources told the BBC’s US partner CBS News.
CBS first reported on the unusual invitation – records indicate no foreign leaders have ever attended a presidential inauguration.
“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,” Trump’s spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
Trump has at times praised Xi but has also been heavily critical of China. He has pledged to sharply increase tariffs on imported Chinese goods when he takes office next month.
In October, Trump told podcaster Joe Rogan: “He controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist. I mean, he’s a brilliant guy, whether you like it or not.”
A number of Trump’s cabinet picks including Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio and national security adviser Mike Waltz are sharp critics of the Chinese government.
The Chinese government has placed sanctions on Rubio and in 2020 banned him from entering the country.
Waltz has urged the US to urgently end the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to “counter the greater threat from the Chinese Communist Party”.
US intelligence agencies recently said that China is behind a hack of eight large US telecommunications companies. The hackers may have accessed data on millions of Americans, according to the White House.
Since winning re-election last month, Trump has met with a number of foreign leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Argentinian President Javier Milei and French President Emmanuel Macron, who invited Trump to Paris for the re-opening of Notre Dame Cathedral.
Although it’s common for diplomats and ambassadors to attend the president’s swearing-in, according to US State Department records dating back to 1874, a foreign leader has never attended the inauguration of a US president.
Leavitt said that other foreign leaders had also been invited to the inauguration, which will be held in Washington DC on 20 January, but did not specify which ones.
The BBC has contacted Chinese officials and the Trump presidential transition team for comment.