Trump invites China’s Xi to his presidential inauguration

United States President-elect Donald Trump has invited his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration ceremony in January, despite his history of hawkish rhetoric and tariff threats.

On Thursday, Trump’s incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed reports of the invitation in an appearance on the conservative TV channel Fox News. She framed the invitation as an effort to strengthen ties between the two countries, long seen as rivals, Al Jazeera reported.

“This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too,” Leavitt told the program Fox & Friends.

Experts say that it would be unprecedented for a Chinese leader to attend a US presidential inauguration, given the frosty relations that have persisted between the two countries for decades.

“This is diplomatic theater, nothing more. Other heads of state, let alone Xi Jinping, haven’t attended US presidential inaugurations,” Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the news agency Reuters.