Trump’s envoy leaves China for campaign

Bloomberg

The top US diplomat in China, Terry Branstad, is retiring, the American Embassy confirmed on Monday, after President Donald Trump touted the former Iowa governor’s expected campaign help in a key swing state.
The embassy’s statement resolved hours of uncertainty about Branstad’s status after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo thanked the envoy for his service in a series of tweets, without explicitly whether saying whether he was resigning. Branstad was planning to depart Beijing early next month and return to Iowa, the embassy said.
Earlier on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular news briefing that the government hadn’t yet received
any formal notification that Branstad was departing.
“Branstad’s departure would be a loss to China-US diplomacy as it would mean one less political heavyweight with a deep understanding of China based here,” said Wang Huiyao, an adviser to China’s cabinet and founder of the Center for China and Globalization. “My impression of Branstad from being at the same events is that he is someone who actively tried to ease China-US tensions. His departure would be a loss to furthering bilateral relations.”
Over the weekend, Trump had said Branstad would return to the US while praising the campaign efforts of the ambassador’s son, Eric Branstad. “Eric’s father’s coming home from China because he wants
to campaign,” Trump said.
Branstad, a former long-time Iowa governor, was chosen in part because of his familiarity with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited the Midwestern US state during a trip abroad in 1985.