The White House says that the US President Donald Trump has written to Chinese President Xi Jinping to wish the "Chinese people a happy Lantern Festival and prosperous Year of the Rooster."
The belated, but not-too-late lunar new year wish comes after Chinese media reported that Trump, unlike his many predecessors, did not send a personal message to mark the holiday this year. Instead the acting secretary of state issued a statement, “on behalf of President Trump and the American people”.
The White House also says Trump wrote Xi to thank him for a congratulatory letter and to express his hopes of developing "a constructive relationship that benefits both the United States and China."
Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump seems to have accomplished dad's diplomatic mission very nicely.
According to The Guardian, the first daughter of the president made an appearance at the Chinese embassy in Washington on 1st February evening with her five-year-old daughter Arabella, who has been learning the language since she was 18 months old.
On the next day, Ivanka Trump also posted a video of Arabella singing Mandarin Chinese song "Happy New Year" to her Twitter account, which was widely circulated on Chinese social media later.
SBS Mandarin hit the streets of Sydney's Chinatown last week to ask Chinese Australian women what their impression is of Donald Trump. Some commentators were very unimpressed with his lack of Lunar New Year greeting at that point:
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澳洲亚裔女性怎么看特朗普总统？（视频）
