US ambassador to China Terry Branstad leaving post to help Trump campaign
Newly appointed US Ambassador to China Terry Branstad speaks to the media in front of his residence in Beijing, China June 28, 2017
The USAmbassador to China Terry Branstad willstep down early next month,ending of histhree-year tenure to work on President Donald Trump's re-election campaign.
In a statement, the US embassy in Beijing confirmed the departure, sayingBranstadwas retiring and would leave Beijing next month. It added that he had confirmed his decision to President Donald Trump by phone last week.
Branstad, previously the longest-serving governor of Iowa, wasappointed by President Donald Trump in 2017.
On Saturday, Trump hinted that Branstad might be joining the campaign. In a video posted on Twitter by Iowa senator Joni Ernst, Trump said Branstad would be coming home from China "because he wants to campaign."
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US-China ties in disarray
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a tweet thanked Branstad for his service since being confirmed in May 2017 and said he contributed to rebalancing US-China relations so that it is "results-oriented, reciprocal, and fair."
US-China relations have been increasingly fraught over multiple issues including US objection to China's new security law in Hong Kong to Beijing's handling of the novel coronavirus pandemic and its territorial ambitions in the South China Sea.
Branstad's departure leaves the USmission in Beijing without a confirmed ambassador at such a diplomatically critical time and that gap could last for months even if Trump is re-elected on November3. The Senate is only scheduled to be in session for about two more weeks before Election Day.
The Chinese foreign ministry has in the past described Branstad, who was instrumental in a so-called Phase One trade deal with China, as an "old friend of the Chinese people". He first forged ties with President Xi Jinping several decades ago when Xi visited Iowa.