Trump’s quick pick for US ambassador to China raises prospects for top-tier contact: analysts

The swift nomination of former senator David Perdue suggests the president-elect sees Beijing as a high priority, observer says

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Former US senator David Perdue has been named as president-elect Donald Trump’s preferred ambassador to China. Photo: AFP

Dewey SimandKhushboo Razdanin Washington

Published: 10:31am, 6 Dec 2024Updated: 9:43pm, 6 Dec 2024

Donald Trump’s swift pick of businessman and former senator David Perdue as the next US ambassador to China could mean better communication between the two geopolitical rivals and the US desire for a breakthrough on trade, observers said.

Announcing the nomination on Thursday, US president-elect Trump emphasised Perdue’s “valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China”, citing his “40-year international business career” and work as a US lawmaker.

“He has lived in Singapore and Hong Kong, and worked in Asia and China for much of his career. In the US Senate, he served on the armed services committee, where he was chair of the powerful sea power subcommittee,” Trump said on social media.

Perdue also served on the foreign relations committee, “the only Republican to serve on both committees”, Trump added.

“He will be instrumental in implementing my strategy to maintain peace in the region, and a productive working relationship with China’s leaders.”

With just a month having elapsed since the election, Trump fielded his nomination much faster than his predecessor, with Joe Biden tapping Nicholas Burns more than nine months after winning the presidential race in 2020.

Sources in both Washington and Beijing, who did not want to be named, had expressed concerns that leaving the China envoy role vacant for an extended period – as was the case with Burns – could be worrying for relations.