Trump's team turns cold to CCP engagement, rejects it outright

 Direct translation

Zhongnanhai hits a wall! Trump team turns cold to CCP engagement, rejects it outright

Reporter : Wang Duruo / Editor : Zhongkang / https://www.aboluowang.com/2024/0829/2096513.html

The Financial Times reported on 28 August 2024 that according to people familiar with the matter, Xi Jinping's central government has repeatedly tried to establish contact with the campaign team of Republican presidential candidate Trump, but all failed, highlighting Washington's strong vigilance and hawkish sentiment against Chinese espionage.

According to eight US and Chinese people familiar with the situation, the CCP even sent former Chinese Communist Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai to make contact, but these efforts have basically failed to make progress. Cui Tiankai is one of the well-known diplomats with extensive connections in Washington.

According to the report, Chinese officials and some visiting scholars who are regarded as Beijing's agents have encountered difficulties in trying to meet with US congressmen, and now their contact with the Trump team is also blocked. Steve Yates, chairman of the China Policy Initiative at the American Priority Policy Institute, said that meeting with Chinese officials would "have almost no benefit" to the Trump team because Trump's position on China is well known and any meeting is likely to be "misunderstood." He also pointed out that the Trump team is currently more focused on winning the upcoming election and that the discipline of team members has improved significantly compared to 2016.

As China's overtures to Trump fail, bipartisan hostility toward China in Washington is growing, and China is aware that no matter who wins the election, U.S. policy toward China is unlikely to soften. Trump plans to impose high tariffs on Chinese goods, while his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris recently said that "the United States will win the competition in the 21st century."

Victoria Coates, a former Trump administration official, believes that the Trump team is cautious about meeting with opponents like China to avoid a repeat of the "Russiagate" investigation that led to a meeting with Russian diplomats in 2016. Wedening, a former CIA expert on China, added that China has been actively trying to establish contact with the Trump team but has failed, which may be because China is considered to be more motivated by intelligence gathering rather than truly seeking dialogue.

In addition, Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute for China and the United States at the Wilson Center, a Washington think tank, pointed out that although Cui Tiankai is an excellent diplomat, the situation in Washington has changed, and the Trump team's meeting with Cui Tiankai at this time may be interpreted as an attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to exert influence.