China buttering up Trump to get him to ‘back off’ on Beijing criticism

Jonathan Ernst | Reuters

President Donald Trump visits the Forbidden City with ChinaÕs President Xi Jinping in Beijing, China, November 8, 2017.

In fact, what the Chinese and Xi want is a “very smooth visit full of pomp and circumstance and very little substance and very little friction,” said Michael Fuchs, senior fellow at think tank Center for American Progress.

“That’s why they are rolling out the red carpet for President Trump. They are hoping they can get a lot of what they got out of President Trump at Mar-a-Lago when the two presidents met earlier this year, which again was a very smooth, one where the two leaders praised one another, talked about how wonderful the relationship is, and the kinds of ways they want to work together in the future,” he added to CNBC.

Beijing is attaching great importance to Trump’s visit, during which he is expected to become the first U.S. president to be hosted for dinner at the Forbidden City, a former imperial palace.

The Chinese foreign ministry said the hospitality for Trump’s visit is equal to what Xi received at Mar-a-Lago, where the Trumps offered “hospitable and considerate reception” to the Chinese leader and his wife, spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday.

China is “under the operative notion that, with Trump, flattery will get you everywhere,” said Jim McGregor, a China expert who chair’s the region for consultancy APCO Worldwide.

China is also probably hoping to get Trump to commit to a “great power relationship,” with every other country playing minor roles, McGregor said. Or maybe Beijing is really just aiming to get the Americans “out of town without doing anything to embarrass Xi Jinping,” he added.