According to a report by New York Times, the Xi Jinping leadership is trying to win the support of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Trump’s senior political adviser and son-in-law.
Xi, as one of China’s political princelings, has high-level family ties to the Communist Party of China. In a distinctive Chinese princeling action, Xi has built firm “back channel” relations to Kushner, who debatably has an equivalent Chinese princeling role in American politics.
In the United States, ethics and nepotism issues were raised with Kushner’s role as an adviser in the White House. Despite all this, Chinese officials deem Kushner as a better means to advance their interests than the State Department, given that the senior adviser is a member of Trump family.
For instance, the upcoming Xi-Trump meeting at the Mar-a-Lago, the “Southern White House” in Florida, has been planned at large by Kushner and Cui Tiankai, Chinese Ambassador to the U.S.
Kushner has also reportedly arranged a phone call between the two presidents to somehow mend the ties. Trump has previously accused China of unfair trade policies during his campaign and afterward refused to abide by the “One China” Policy on Taiwan as U.S. President.
To make a casual setting, Kushner and Cui decided to conduct next week’s meeting at Trump’s golf club over a more official location. The Times said that instead of sending a U.S.-China joint statement to diplomatic officials, Cui has apparently sent the statement straight to Kushner.
Princelings, for a long time, have molded Chinese politics. They exercise political influence over their family either through birth or through marriage. For example, Xi is the son of a Communist pioneer who was later eliminated by Mao Zedong.
Another example is Wang Qishan who became a princeling politician through marriage. Wang is a member of China’s Politburo Standing Committee who led the anti-corruption operations under Xi.
Kushner, as a highly dependable family asset to Trump, is a resemblance of the ideal son-in-law in influential Chinese families.
China has also gained favor from Kushner’s wife, Ivanka. The Chinese Embassy in Washington DC had invited Ivanka and Arabella, the couple’s daughter, for the Chinese New Year celebrations. A video of the presidential granddaughter singing in Mandarin went viral on Chinese social media sites.
Chinese media have also given Kushner a variety of names. Among these are America’s “first son-in-law,” “a more trusted son than Trump’s own sons” and, regarding his figure, “a fresh breeze in the world of potbellied CEOs.”
The Xi Jinping leadership hopes to strengthen China-U.S. relations to the U.S. princeling, Jared Kushner.