US ambassador to China Terry Branstad to step down next monthworldUpdated: Sep 14, 2020 16:40 ISTThe US ambassador to China will step down early next month, ending a three-year tenure marked by a trade war and increasingly bitter relations between the world’s two largest economies. Terry Branstad, appointed by president Donald Trump in 2017, confirmed his decision in a phone call with Trump last week, the US embassy said in a statement Monday. “Ambassador Branstad has contributed to rebalancing U.S.-China relations so that it is results-oriented, reciprocal, and fair,” Pompeo wrote in a follow-up tweet. Branstad became embroiled in a recent controversy when China’s official People’s Daily newspaper rejected an opinion column that he had written. Branstad joined US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at trade talks with Chinese counterparts in Beijing in May 2019.

Source: Hindustan Times September 14, 2020 11:10 UTC