Trump invites China’s Xi to his inauguration

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP):

President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month -- extending a diplomatic olive branch even as Trump threatens to levy massive tariffs on Chinese goods.

Trump's incoming press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed last Thursday that Trump invited Xi, but said it was "to be determined" if the leader of the United States' most significant economic and military competitor would attend.

In fact it seems unlikely.

Xi is likely to see the invitation as too risky to accept, and the gesture from Trump may have little bearing on the increasingly competitive ties between the two nations as the White House changes hands, experts say.

Danny Russel, vice-president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said Xi would not allow himself to "be reduced to the status of a mere guest celebrating the triumph of a foreign leader -- the US president, no less."

Still, Leavitt saw it as a plus.

"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," she said in an appearance on Fox News' programme, Fox & Friends. "We saw this in his first term. He got a lot of criticism for it, but it led to peace around this world. He is willing to talk to anyone and he will always put America's interest first."

Asked at a Chinese Foreign Ministry briefing about Trump's invitation, spokesperson Mao Ning responded: "I have nothing to share at present."

Leavitt said that other foreign leaders have also been invited, but did not provide any details.

The move by Trump to invite a leader of an adversarial nation to the American moment that is Inauguration Day is unorthodox. But it also squares with his belief that foreign policy--much like a business negotiation--should be carried out with carrots and sticks to get the United States' opponents to operate closer to his administration's preferred terms.