Trump will be relying heavily on son-in-law and real-estate magnate Jared Kushner with some assistance from old China hand Henry Kissinger and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, an oil executive who is mostly unfamiliar with the customs and political protocols of a Chinese delegation that places a premium on them. But Trump hasn’t filled many key positions that could bolster him in the negotiations, including assistant secretaries of State and Defense for East Asia, according to former U.S. officials and other experts familiar with China policy.
“Those are very key players, and without people in those positions, it is hard to imagine that the administration in this short period of time has been able to come with a comprehensive China policy,” said Dennis Wilder, who served from 2015 to 2016 as the CIA’s deputy assistant director for East Asia and the Pacific…
Other key positions remain unfilled, including a China-related slot at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. And one of the most important slots — Trump’s senior director for Asia on the National Security Council – is occupied by Matthew Pottinger, a former Beijing-based journalist turned Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was brought in by Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.
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