US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen commits ‘embarrassing’ bow during Beijing visit: ‘Never, ever, ever’By Mary Kay Linge
July 8, 2023
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen committed a string of diplomatic faux pas during her visit to Beijing Saturday, bowing to her Chinese counterpart multiple times without reciprocation — a protocol error that critics flagged as a sign of American weakness.
The Biden administration’s top economic official, on the second day of her four-day effort to mend fences with a major rival, bowed at least three times as she shook hands with Vice Premier He Lifeng, video shows — while He, Xi Jinping’s new economy czar, stood erect, backing away slightly to give the beaming Yellen more room to kowtow.
“Never, ever, ever,” Bradley Blakeman, a senior staffer in George W. Bush’s White House, told The Post. “An American official does not bow. It looks like she’s been summoned to the principal’s office, and that’s exactly the optics the Chinese love.”
“Bowing is not part of the accepted protocol,” agreed Jerome A. Cohen, an emeritus professor at NYU and expert in Chinese law and government.
Moments later, Yellen, 76, tripped over He’s name, calling him “Vice Premier Hu” as she opened the first official American meeting with the economic chief, a Xi loyalist who was named to the post in March.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2023/07/08/us-treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-commits-embarrassing-bow-during-beijing-visit/
