How China Sent a Message to Trump on His Arrival

President Trump arrived Wednesday night in Beijing, where he was welcomed by a military band, an honor guard, hundreds of Chinese youth waving flags and China’s vice president, Han Zheng.Such carefully designed receptions for foreign leaders telegraph Beijing’s attitude toward these visits.Sometimes Beijing sends a lower-level official to convey displeasure or distance.

Sometimes they send someone senior and influential to signal a high degree of respect.This time, they sent someone who is high-level but whose position is mostly that of a figurehead — which could be a way to send a layered message.“Beijing sent Han Zheng to Trump’s inauguration and knows that his title of vice president, even though it is a ceremonial role, will impress the status-conscious American president,” said Julian Gewirtz, a China historian at Columbia University who served in senior China policy roles in the National Security Council under President Biden.“It’s an example of how, throughout this summit, China is hoping to trade symbolism for substance — using protocol and Trump’s preference for pageantry to hold off a return to economic escalation and buy time for China,” he said.In his role as vice president, Mr.Han is often sent to formal diplomatic events, such as the coronation ceremony in Britain of King Charles III or Mr.

Trump’s second inauguration as president.But Mr.

Han, who stepped down from the elite Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power in China’s ruling Communist Party, now has little influence over policymaking.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe....