Recently, Biden, who won the election, is accelerating the formation of a new government, after he has nominated a number of cabinet members who will be responsible for foreign policy and national security affairs. Because Sino-US relations are extremely critical and important, the new candidate for the U.S. ambassador to China has always been the focus of attention.
On December 8th, local time, according to the exclusive disclosure of people familiar with the matter quoted by the American media “Axios News Network”, Biden is currently considering nominating Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, as the U.S. ambassador to China. The two have participated in 2 The Democratic primary in the U.S. presidential election in 2020.
According to the analysis of the report, the important position of U.S. Ambassador to China is usually held by senior politicians. If Biden nominate Buttigieg, it will not only have an experience in his future re-election for President of the United States, but also provide an opportunity for China to know a potential U.S. President of the United States, a similar situation that has been reported to Bush. Born.
If Biden nominates Buttigieg, it will break the tradition.
Buttigieg, 38 years old, is the youngest candidate in the 2020 U.S. presidential election and a moderate Democratic Party. He has studied at Harvard University, Oxford University and served as mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
In the party primary at the beginning of this year, Buttigieg became famous in the first stop in Iowa at the beginning, and was evenly matched with “Veteran” Sanders. He was widely regarded by the media as a “dark horse” in this year’s U.S. election. However, his election has been declining since then, and he finally withdrew from the Democratic presidential primary in March this year.
According to the analysis of Axios News Network, the Biden administration’s diplomatic experience is very helpful for his future, because many people in the Democratic Party believe that it is only a matter of time before he will become the presidential candidate again and compete for the presidency.
According to the report, usually, the position of U.S. Ambassador to China is held by an experienced politician, who often enters the middle or end of his career. In addition, this appointment model also means to pay tribute to China to a certain extent.
However, if Biden nominate Buttigieg as his ambassador to China, it will “subvert” this appointment model, and China will have the opportunity to know a potential future president of the United States. In the history of Sino-US relations, a similar situation occurred in 1974. At that time, U.S. President Ford appointed Bush Sr. as the director of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing, but Bush Sr. was 50 years old at that time.
The two have a deep relationship, and there are endless rumors of Buttigieg entering the cabinet.
According to Axios News Network, taking the foreign-related position of U.S. Ambassador to China is not the only choice for Buttigieg, who is fluent in many languages. In fact, serving as the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations is Buttigieg’s first choice.
In the first cabinet list announced by Biden on November 23, he has nominated Linda Thomas-Greenfield, an African-American diplomat, as the Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations.
Buttigieg’s name was also mentioned in the discussion of candidates for domestic leadership positions such as transportation or commerce. But Buttigieg has already told Biden’s transition team that he’s most interested in foreign policy or the area of national security, according to people familiar with the matter.
Previously, there were concerns that Buttigieg would not enter the Biden administration, especially the two who competed in the Democratic presidential primary. But in fact, Buttigieg played a key role in Biden’s presidential nomination. His subsequent withdrawal from the election essentially played a role in consolidating votes and consolidating the support of moderate parties in the party for Biden.
In addition, the two have a delicate relationship similar to “father-son relationship”. Buttigieg went to Afghanistan as a naval captain in 2014 and has a similar experience to Biden’s late son, Beau Biden, in the war overseas. In March, Biden said at an event: “I’ve never said such a thing before, but he (Buttigieg) reminds me of my son Bo. While this may not mean much to most people, this is the highest opinion I can give to others.”
This political star, the “identity label”, attracts attention.
In addition to a rising political star in American politics, Buttigieg has another reason to attract attention. He is the first openly gay American presidential candidate.
In 2015, Buttigieg made public his homosexual orientation. In June 2018, he married his same-sex partner, Chasten Glezman, a middle school teacher. The two also appeared on the cover of Time magazine in May 2019.
Previously, several “first” people attracted attention in Biden’s list of cabinet members. For example, the United States may welcome the first female Director of National Intelligence, the first Latino Secretary of Homeland Security and the first female Secretary of the Treasury.
And once Buttigieg enters the Biden administration, the Democratic Party’s focus on “identity politics” in recent years will be further demonstrated.
In February this year, during the primary election of the Democratic presidential candidate, Qiang Wei, a columnist of Guancha.com and an associate professor at the Central Party School, once analyzed that “identity tags” are a major advantage for Buttigieg, not only attracting some LGBTQ
voters who regard their candidate’s identity over political claims, It can also protect the body with “identity tags” and be immune to identity political attacks, which are mostly from progressives and radicals.
Buttigieg has its own disadvantages, though, and the New York Times previously analyzed that the lack of favor among African-American and Latino American voters is the main reason why Buttigieg is unsustainable in the Democratic primary election.
Axios News Network reported that Buttigieg’s supporters believe that his tenure in Biden administration is politically good for him, which will help him establish good relations with black voters.
In September this year, the United States officially informed China that Terry Edward Branstad, then the U.S.
ambassador to China, would leave in early October. On October 4, Branstad left office and returned to the United States.
In response, Wang Wenbin, spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Ambassador Branstad did a lot of work to promote exchanges and cooperation between the Chinese and American people during his tenure as Governor of Iowa and the United States Ambassador to China. We hope that he will continue to play an active role in the healthy development of Sino-US relations in the future.
On November 5, Rob Forden, Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the U. Embassy in China, stressed in a dialogue event of the Chahar Society that Sino-US relations will continue to be the most important relationship in the world.
Fuden said that regardless of the outcome of the U.S. election, the United States will continue to promote fair and reciprocal relations with China, and that “there is a universal and consistent support for the current U.S. policy towards China” in both parties.
