Two former senior State Department officials and an industry representative told the publication that Trump is preventing White House representatives from engaging with Chinese officials in Beijing to defuse the trade tensions.
The article notes that the U.S. Senate has yet to confirm an ambassador to China, and Trump has not appointed anyone to lead negotiations with Beijing. Furthermore, the White House has not reached out to the Chinese Embassy to initiate discussions.
This lack of substantive contact has frozen meaningful communication between the two countries and jeopardized the prospects of resolving the trade war in the near future/
"Backchannel communications aren’t working because President Trump doesn’t want them to. He wants to deal directly with President Xi, just as he does with President Putin. I don’t think he’s particularly interested in delegating his views," said Ryan Hass, former Director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia at the National Security Council during the Obama administration.
The article also states that Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to speak or meet with Xi Jinping to reduce tensions caused by the trade war. However, Xi appears to be resisting such contact. Instead, Politico writes, Xi has focused on rallying Southeast Asian nations to strengthen their ties with China in opposition to U.S. tariffs — a deadlock that is frustrating the White House.
"President Trump has made it clear the ball is in China’s court," said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The White House claims its officials are in close contact with authorities in Beijing, but did not confirm whether unofficial diplomacy is part of their strategy.
Source: Politico.
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