Cui Tiankai says other diplomats in DC face same problem while economic adviser Kudlow says China talks ‘unsatisfactory’
China’s ambassador to the US said on Sunday he and other diplomats in Washington did not know which advisers Donald Trump turns to when forming policy on trade.
Cui Tiankai was asked on Fox News Sunday if he thought the president is guided by moderates or hardliners.
“You tell me,” he replied.
“Honestly, I’ve been talking to ambassadors of other countries in Washington DC and this is also part of their problem.”
Diplomats, Cui said, “don’t know who is the final decision-maker. Of course, presumably, the president will take the final decision. But who is playing what role? Sometimes it could be very confusing.”
Cui could have sought the advice of another guest on the same show, Trump’s chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow, a former free trader who now follows the official line.
Asked if the US and China were on the brink of a “cold war”, Kudlow told Fox he had been “very involved in the trade talks with China”.
