Vice President-elect JD Vance on Sunday met with his Chinese counterpart, Vice President of the People’s Republic of China Han Zheng, Trump transition officials confirmed to CBS News.
Han is in Washington, D.C., for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
“Vice President-elect Vance and Vice President Han discussed a range of topics including fentanyl, balancing trade, and regional stability,” the transition said in a statement.
Han is one of several foreign officials expected to attend Trump’s inauguration, along with Argentina President Javier Milei, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the wife of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, since he is unable to leave the country. According to State Department records dating back to 1874, a foreign leader has never attended a transfer-of-power ceremony.
Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told CBS News in December that Trump had invited Xi to the inauguration. She told Fox News on Thursday that it is an example of Trump “creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies but our adversaries and our competitors too.”
The outreach to Chinese officials comes as other expected members of the Trump administration, including Sen. Marco Rubio, his pick to be Secretary of State, have been critical of the Chinese government. During Rubio’s confirmation hearing last week, he called China “the most potent and dangerous near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted.”
In addition, ByteDance, the Chinese owners of TikTok, over the weekend restricted access to its wildly popular app in the U.S. over a law set to effect Sunday intended to force ByteDance to divest from the company. The app went dark in the U.S. late Saturday, but was replaced by a message saying that they are “fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office.”
Trump on Sunday posted on social media that he would issue an executive order to extend the period of time before the law takes effect, and the app was reinstated on Sunday for American users.
TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew is also expected to attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
