【Epoch Times, May 16, 2025】The newly appointed US Ambassador to China, David Perdue, arrived in Beijing on Thursday, May 15. He posted on the social media platform X, saying, “Today I arrived in Beijing. I am honored to represent President Trump as the US Ambassador to China. I am ready to start working to make America safer, stronger, and more prosperous.”
Perdue, a former advocate for global free trade, has now positioned himself as a hawk on China. He emphasizes his close relationship with President Trump and aims to restore crucial communication channels between the US and China.
Perdue previously served as a Republican US Senator from Georgia. He is taking over the position previously held by career diplomat Nicholas Burns, who was appointed by Biden. Burns left office in January.
His arrival has drawn significant attention, especially after the unexpected trade ceasefire agreement reached between the US and China in Geneva, pausing the trade war between the two countries.
Analysts point out that Perdue was one of President Trump’s closest allies in the Senate during his first term, and he is expected to leverage this relationship to gain the trust of Chinese negotiation representatives in order to promote a new round of trade agreements.
Senator Steve Daines told Reuters, “Perdue is probably the closest ambassador to the president among all of our ambassadors.” He added, “President Trump picked the right person at the right time to take on this important mission.”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed willingness on Wednesday, May 14 to assist Perdue in assuming his new role.
Perdue hails from a rural family in Warner Robins, Georgia, where both of his parents were teachers. He attended Georgia Tech and later worked at consulting firm Kurt Salmon Associates, helping US clothing retailers source garments from Asian factories.
Between 1992 and 1994, he assisted Sara Lee in establishing its Asian operations and lived in Hong Kong during that period. Following layoffs in 1994 that affected thousands, including workers at Virginia and Georgia factories, he held positions at Haggar, Reebok, and Dollar General where outsourcing and layoffs were prevalent.
In 2005, he expressed pride in his outsourcing record and attributed the decline of US manufacturing to government policies.
At 75 years old, Perdue, a former advocate of global free trade, has spent 40 years in international business profiting from outsourcing manufacturing to Asia.
In 2014, he ran for US Senator, touting himself as a job creator and global trade proponent, winning the election. During his term as senator, he focused on military and security issues and chaired the Seapower Subcommittee under the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2019.
He advocates for strengthening the US Navy’s capabilities and shipbuilding. He has embarked on naval missions in the South China Sea and visited Taiwan in 2018, meeting with then-President Tsai Ing-wen.
In 2018 and 2019, he and Daines led congressional delegations to China, meeting with Premier Li Keqiang and chief trade negotiator Liu He to advance the US-China Phase One trade agreement. Subsequently, he became a hawk on China and ultimately supported the Trump administration’s tariff policies against China.
After his visit to China in 2018, he cautioned the US not to underestimate China’s growing economic and military power, expressing concerns about China’s direction in its rise.
Perdue stated, “We all got it wrong. We thought as China got wealthier… it would become more open and free. But that did not happen.”
Seven years later, the issues he raised during his visit to China still plague US-China relations, including unfair market access, forced technology transfer, intellectual property theft, non-compliance with international trade rules, and cyber warfare.
In recent years, his rhetoric towards China has become increasingly tough. Last year, he criticized Xi Jinping as a “modern emperor,” identified Beijing’s intent to “destroy capitalism and democracy,” and advocated for the decoupling of US supply chains from China.
Sun Yun, a China expert at the Stimson Center, noted that Trump viewed Perdue as a trusted envoy to China early on.
“The challenges between the US and China are structural issues, and no one expects one person to change the situation,” Sun Yun said. “But having an effective communicator is always helpful.”