US president-elect says ex-Georgia senator will help maintain a ‘productive working relationship with China’.
United States President-elect Donald Trump has named former Georgia Senator David Perdue as his pick for ambassador to China, a post that will require navigating an increasingly tumultuous relationship between Washington and Beijing.
“As a Fortune 500 CEO, who had a 40-year International business career, and served in the US Senate, David brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China. He has lived in Singapore and Hong Kong, and worked in Asia and China for much of his career,” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
“He will be instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain peace in the region and a productive working relationship with China’s leaders,” Trump said.
As a member of the Senate from 2015 to 2021, Perdue took a tough stance on China that has become a hallmark of the Republican Party.
“America’s outdated view of China could result in lost opportunities, or even worse, dangerous miscalculations or complacency,” he wrote in a 2018 op-ed for Fox News alongside Republican Senators Steve Daines of Montana, Chuck Grassly of Iowa, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin.
“We must have a long-term plan to compete and deal with China’s rising economic and geopolitical influence.”
