The newly-elected president, Donald Trump, named past Georgia Senator David Perdue as the next US ambassador to China.
Chinese think tanks described Perdue’s work in Congress as „anti-China.” One of the ambassador’s main concerns was the strengthening of the U.S. Navy, partly caused by the constant development of Chinese military capabilities. Apart from this, Perdue talked about China in his essay published in the Washington Examiner, saying that, for protection, “Americans first have to realize the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] actually is at war with us.”
It should be mentioned that his position toward China was not always this strict: at first since he was business-friendly, the former Senator advocated for the reduction of the Chinese trade deficit. Additionally, Perdue, as a businessman, was especially in favor of moving certain jobs from the U.S. to Asia to save on manufacturing costs. However, for a lot of people, such activities went against Trump’s America First policy, which aimed to bring job positions back to America.
On social media website TRUTH. Donald Trump wrote about the new position of Perdue and said that the work of the ambassador would play a crucial part in „implementing [his] strategy to maintain Peace in the region and a productive working relationship with China’s leaders.“ Despite this, considering Perdue’s past work in Congress, Trump’s choice looks to be a more aggressive approach than Biden’s administration.
Politico writes on account of an anonymous source that Perdue is not perceived as a partner for China and he „will be lucky if he can see [Chinese Foreign Minister] Wang Yi. “ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson has not commented on the subject but has „noted the report“ about the decision.
