Terry Branstad had been within the submit since Might 2017.
Washington, United States:
The US ambassador to China, Terry Branstad, is stepping down, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo introduced Monday.
Thanking Branstad for his service, Pompeo stated in a tweet that he had “contributed to rebalancing U.S.-China relations in order that it’s results-oriented, reciprocal, and honest.”
The explanations for the ambassador’s departure weren’t instantly clear, and China’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs — whereas acknowledging Pompeo’s tweet — stated it had not acquired discover of his resignation.
The previous two-term Iowa governor, 73, had been within the submit since Might 2017, representing Washington in Beijing throughout a interval of strained ties with China, marked by tensions over commerce, regional territorial claims, the coronavirus pandemic, and unrest in Hong Kong.
In June, he was summoned by Beijing after President Donald Trump signed a regulation that paved the best way for sanctions over Hong Kong, an motion the international ministry slammed as “gross interference in China’s inner affairs”.
Final 12 months, he known as on Beijing to open a “substantive dialogue” with the Dalai Lama throughout a uncommon go to to Tibet, a area the place the central authorities is accused of widespread repression.
An early supporter of Trump’s run for the White Home in 2016, Branstad was appointed quickly after the election.
On the time, Trump’s transition group praised his “large understanding of China and Chinese language folks.”
He was reported to have a long-standing relationship with Chinese language President Xi Jinping, whom he first met within the 1980s.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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