The News
Trump nominated David Perdue, a businessman and former senator, as his ambassador to China, a choice that highlights apparent tensions in the US president-elect’s team over Beijing.
Perdue “will be instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain peace in the region, and a productive working relationship with China’s leaders,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
SIGNALS
Perdue pick suggests different approach to diplomacy
Trump’s choice of Perdue, a former Fortune 500 chief executive, “underscores a growing trend where diplomacy is a function of corporate influence,” one former US official told the Financial Times. Beijing may be “breathing a sigh of relief” at the appointment of an experienced businessman, a China expert, who advised the Trump team, said. The move also seems like something of a post-campaign “olive branch” given Perdue’s past comments on the importance of fostering cooperation between China and the US, Bloomberg wrote. Perdue’s business outlook toward China may be at odds with Trump’s protectionism, though, as the former senator has supported moving jobs to Asia to save on manufacturing costs.
Trump’s China team ‘shaping up to be a team of rivals’
Trump’s group of China advisers is “shaping up to be a team of rivals,” Semafor’s Morgan Chalfant wrote: Perdue’s more pragmatic approach to business dealings with China could put him at odds with members of Trump’s team who want to take a more aggressive approach to Beijing, like secretary of state pick Marco Rubio and trade adviser Peter Navarro. Elon Musk, picked to head the newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, also has business interests in China — Tesla opened a “gigafactory” in Shanghai with the Chinese government’s blessing in 2019 — and could also seek to dial back Trump’s plans for a trade war, Foreign Policy noted.