Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen committed a series of diplomatic gaffes during her trip to Beijing over the weekend, and they’re possibly the worst she could make.
The Biden administration’s number one economic official flew to China on a four-day visit as part of an attempt to repair the relationship between the two countries.
On the second day of her trip, Yellen shook hands with Vice Premier He Lifeng and bowed three times in quick succession, according to a video of the exchange.
He Lifeng stood tall and unbending as he stepped back to give her more space to complete her embarrassing display, choosing not to reciprocate the bows which could have softened the diplomatic blow for her.
“An American official does not bow,” George W. Bush senior staffer Bradley Blakeman said to the New York Post. “It looks like she’s been summoned to the principal’s office, and that’s exactly the optics the Chinese love.”
Just minutes later, Yellen tripped over He’s name, calling him “Vice Premier Hu” in the first official American meeting with the newly appointed economic czar, a Xi loyalist installed to the post in March.
Pleading Speech and Cold Welcome
During her speech, she tried to convince the country to establish a “healthy economic competition that is not winner-take-all.”
But China does not seem swayed.
Days before Yellen arrived, the country announced new export restrictions on two metals crucial to the semiconductor manufacture, claiming it needed to “safeguard national security and interests”.
The true motive behind the move is widely understood to be retaliation against American action on Chinese technology.
Shortly after Yellen landed, China also made moves against Taiwan, deploying 13 aircraft and 6 vessels into the airspace and waters around the disputed island country.
Chinese President Xi Jinping himself visited the People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater headquarters just before Yellen arrived. Its area of operation is directly across the Taiwan Strait.
Yellen is not expected to meet with Xi during her trip.
She’s a typical Democrat numbskull. Remember when Broke Obungle bowed before some Arab sheik?
Well that was a normal reaction from odumdum being that he is an America hating muslim. Yellen is just one more brainless democrat in the left wing government we happen to have now.
So did Obama when he went to the Middle East for a visit. I forget who it was.
Just following Biden Obama lead right
Another brain challenged member of the democr.at party. This woman is in so far over her head it’s pathetic.
guess she missed the briefing on how to greet Chinese diplomats/business leaders…….different procedure in Japan, Korea, Vietnam and China to name a few
Where in the heck did these dummy’s come from? No wonder the country is a mess. Trump may be too honest with what he thinks but that is a small price to pay to turn this country and its wackos around. The elites want to take over the planet and the hell with us.. there are more of us than them.
Funny thing, I used to hear those very things said about Republicans. Nothing really changes.
I think the old adage about blaming the shortcomings of others, only if ther blamer is free of all guilt himself, should be observed.
I also noticed Yellen’s embarrassing bows. I feel she was doing so because that is a custom in Japan, but certainly not China (where I have done business in the past). Sadly, some people assume, incorrectly in this case, that both nationalities have the same customs. In fact, the Chinese hate the Japanese. That may have increased their irritation at Ms. Yellen’s unfortunate diplomatic faux pas.
That’s impossible. I guess you’re in the wrong place. That’s not the way I know China. I lived in China for four years, and the people there were friendly and safe. It’s not like this side of the country is afraid to go out at night for fear of being robbed. And I have looked up history. Japan was a dependent country of China in ancient times. It is normal for customs to be similar. Otherwise, why does Japanese have a shadow of Chinese?
Biden family is on the PRC/CCP payroll. What else do you expect. USA has been sold out.