Donald Trump has made no secret of his feelings about China. He has accused the rival economic giant of stealing American jobs with nefarious trade policies and sparked a brief diplomatic tiff by calling Taiwan’s premier.
But the Chinese believe they have a way of smoothing the waters — and his name is Jared Kushner.
Chinese officials have assiduously, some might say obsessively, courted the president’s Jewish son-in-law, the New York Times reports.
“Having access to the president’s family and somebody they see as a princeling is even better,” Evan S. Medeiros, a senior director for Asia in the Obama administration, told the paper.
China’s ambassador to the U.S. talks to Kushner regularly and even invited Kushner and his wife, Ivanka, to a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration.
Critics note that Kushner’s family real estate business has extensive ties with Chinese firms — even though a megadeal for 666 Fifth Ave recently fell through.
The buttering up may be working.
Chinese President President Xi Jinping will visit the U.S. this week and scored a coveted invitation to rub elbows with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Author
Dave Goldiner
Dave Goldiner is the Forward’s director of digital media. Dave is a veteran journalist who has spent two decades working at newspapers in the United States and Africa. A native New Yorker, Goldiner wrote for the New York Daily News, where he covered some of the biggest stories of our time, including the attacks of September 11, along with thousands of stories of hope and heartbreak. He also studied and worked in Southern Africa and has written for publications in South Africa and Zimbabwe. He holds masters degrees in journalism and public administration from Columbia University. Dave can be reached at goldiner@forward.com, or follow him on Twitter @davegoldiner
Is Jared Kushner The Surest Path To Trump’s Ear? China Thinks So.