Trump said to pick Iowa governor Terry Branstad as China ambassador

President-elect Donald Trump offered the post of US ambassador to China to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, a long-time friend of Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to three people close to the matter.

Mr Branstad, a Republican, has accepted the offer, said the three people, who asked for anonymity.

The decision comes at a time of heightened tensions with China after Mr Trump abandoned almost four decades of diplomatic protocol on Dec 2 by speaking directly with the leader of Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rogue province.

Mr Trump has been critical of China's currency policies and military build-up. He has not named his choice for secretary of state, the top US diplomatic post.

Mr Branstad arrived at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday afternoon with his wife, Chris, and his chief of staffMichael Bousselot.

A contingent of Mr Trump's top advisers gathered for the meeting with Mr Branstad, including Mr Trump's chief of staffReince Priebus, chief strategist Steve Bannon, Mr Donald Trump Jr. and Mr Trump's son-in-lawJared Kushner, according to two people familiar with the matter.

An hour after Mr Branstad went up the elevator to Mr Trump's office, he re-emerged in the lobby, where he told reporters he would not comment on whether he was offered a post.

"I'm really excited about the quality of people that he's attracting to the Cabinet," Mr Branstad said. "I'm very proud to have supported Donald Trump for president."

Victory Tour

Mr Trump will be in Iowa on Thursday for a stop on his post-election victory tour. The longest-serving governor in US history, Mr Branstad, 70, started a second run as governor in 2011. He previously held the job from 1983 to 1999.

Mr Branstad's friendship with Mr Xi may be one of the reasons Mr Trump picked him for the ambassador post. Two days before the Nov 8 presidential election, during a rally in Sioux City, Mr Trump singled out Mr Branstad as an ideal liaison to China.

"You would be our prime candidate to take care of China," Mr Trump said in calling the governor to the stage.

Mr Branstad and Mr Xi met when the Chinese leader made his first trip to Iowa in 1985 during a sister-state exchange. At the time, Mr Xi was a young agricultural official from Hebei province, working as director of the Feed Association of Shijiazhuang Prefecture. The two men have reconnected several times since then.

Despite their cultural differences, the pair forged strong bonds and have used their mutual love of agriculture to bridge the gap between their respective countries on human rights, economic issues and other tensions.

Mr Branstad in 2012 feted Mr Xi, then China's vice-president, with an elaborate dinner at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines, and days after Mr Trump's election, embarked on a previously planned, week-long trade mission to China and Japan, his fourth trip to China in the last seven years.

Mr Branstad, unlike some establishment Republicans in other states, was an enthusiastic backer of Mr Trump even during some of the most difficult spells during the campaign. The governor's older son, Eric, served as state director for Mr Trump's campaign.

Iowa favoured Mr Trump by about 9 percentage points over Democrat Hillary Clinton, after twice voting for President Barack Obama. Mr Trump carried Iowa by the largest margin for a Republican since Mr Ronald Reagan in 1980.

China is Iowa's second-largest export market, afterCanada. Figures from the US-China Business Council show Iowa exported US$2.3 billion (S$3.3 billion)in goods and US$273 million in services to China in 2015. Crop production accounted for some US$1.4 billion of the exports. Agricultural machinery, chemicals and other products were also sold.

Among the main challenges facing the new ambassador will be Mr Trump's potential trade policy, including a vow to name China as a currency manipulator; state-sponsored computer hacking; and tensions surrounding China's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

If MrBranstad is confirmed, it would trigger a domino effect in the state that would include Iowa getting its first female governor with the ascension of Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds, 59, Mr Branstad's desired political heir.

(BLOOMBERG)