Chi Wang

Opinion | US-China relations: what Biden’s and Xi’s picks for ambassador could mean

The US could be signalling a return to diplomacy, with the rumoured choice of a diplomat with Nato experience for ambassador to China. However, the likely replacement for Beijing’s man in Washington suggests wolf warrior diplomacy may be here to stay

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Chi Wang

Published: 1:00am, 17 Jul 2021Updated: 1:50am, 17 Jul 2021

The United States and China are both in the process of appointing new ambassadors to serve in each other’s capitals. In Beijing, the post has been vacant since US ambassador Terry Branstad stepped down last October.

Meanwhile, Chinese ambassador Cui Tiankai is retiring after eight years in Washington. The vacancies come as Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping court allies amid tense US-China relations.

Ongoing tensions and travel concerns during the pandemic have limited high-level exchanges of government officials, making it all the more imperative to fill the vacant ambassadorships. The individuals picked to represent Biden and Xi in each other’s capital may send strong messages about how each leader expects to engage with the other in the immediate future.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the post of US ambassador to China often went to career diplomats or government officials, including Winston Lord, James Lilley and J. Stapleton Roy. More recently, presidents have picked elected officials from states with strong trade ties to China. Branstad, former governor of Iowa, fitted this mould, as did Gary Locke of Washington and Max Baucus of Montana.

The US ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, and his wife, Christine, at the ambassador’s residence in Beijing in 2017. Branstad left the post in October 2020. Photo: AFP

The rumours circulating about possible Biden appointees to Beijing are surprising as most represent a break from tradition. In December, there were suggestions that Biden was considering one-time presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg for the role, though he was subsequently named Secretary of Transportation. Other rumours centred on former Disney CEO Robert Iger and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.