Trab swearing: In place of Shi Jinping will be attended by Chinese Vice President Han Zheng as a “safeguard”

The inauguration of the new President of the United States, on the coming Monday (20.10.2025) brings together the eyes, as expected, with the attention of turning to the guests and to the loud “abuses” including the Chinese President, . The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China announced today (17.01.2025) that Si Jinping will not attend the inauguration of Donald Trump, despite the latter’s invitation, while in his place Vice President Han Zheng will participate, which the Chinese embassy in Washington. CORVERSE “We are willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with the new US government, to properly manage our differences, to extend mutually beneficial cooperation, to jointly promote stable, healthy and sustainable Chinese and US development,” Beijing said, as did the American ABC News network. This is the first time a senior Chinese official will attend an American President’s inauguration, which shows the enormous importance Beijing attaches to Donald’s arrival. Trump at the White House, with the background of the Republican leader’s programming statements on new tariffs and protective economic policies against China. CORVERSE Thus, Han Zheng’s participation in Donald Trump’s inauguration is a high symbolism move, since Beijing shows Washington his intention for a positive partnership aimed at joint development with the US. On the other hand, the Vice President of China represents Shi Jinping on similar occasions, as he did in the inauguration of the President of Indonesia in October 2023, due to his high position in the Chinese government. But there is the ‘safeguard’. Shi’s strategic choice As noted in features , Han Zheng, who was appointed vice president in March 2023, is known as the “number eight in the hierarchy”, as he is the highest-ranking official after the seven members of the Political Office Standing Committee. Han Zheng was also a member of Politburo until October 2022, when Shi Jinping began his historic third term in power and appointed his most trusted advisors and associates to the top positions. Thus, the fact that Han Zheng not only stayed outside the supreme party body shows that he is not such a major political ally of the President and thus is the most appropriate official to represent the country in Donald Trump’s inauguration. “If relations between the US and China get worse from the party’s perspective, Shi and the party will be able to show that they maintained some distance from Trump, since in his inauguration Han Zheng was present rather than a member of the Standing Committee,” analysts tell the BBC. They point out that: “Shi Jinping trusts Han Zheng enough to undertake this mission, but the Vice President of China is not his main ally and could be blamed if anything goes wrong.”