The White House National Security Council has reportedly told the U.S. Ambassador to Japan to stop posting statements on social media that might irritate and sever ties with China, three Biden administration officials told NBC News.
Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan and former White House chief of staff for the Obama administration, has recently posted comments on Twitter directly criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping and speculating about how he treats some of his staffers, according to NBC News. National Security Council officials have reportedly asked Emanuel to stop posting such statements online, claiming that the messaging can undermine the government’s efforts to repair its relationship with China, NBC News reported. (RELATED: ‘That Is Crap’: Biden, Xi Had Heated Argument Over Alleged Biolabs In Ukraine, Book Says)
“President Xi’s cabinet lineup is now resembling Agatha Christie’s novel And Then There Were None,” Emanuel wrote and posted to Twitter, commenting on the recent disappearance of China’s foreign and defense ministers, NBC News reported.
“Who’s going to win this unemployment race? China’s youth or Xi’s cabinet?” Emanuel’s post continued.
Other administration officials told NBC News that China is angry with Emanuel’s social media activity. Emanuel’s social media posts are “not in keeping with the message coming out of this building,” a White House official told NBC News.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris (R) is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel arrives at the Yokota Air Base on 26 September 2022, in Fussa, Tokyo, Japan. Dignitaries including several current and former heads of state are visiting Japan for the state funeral of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, which will be held on Tuesday. (Photo by Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)
Emanuel’s spokesperson told NBC News that the report that the National Security Council told the ambassador to stop posting is “absolutely not true.”
“Ambassador Emanuel is serving with distinction as an uncommonly effective representative of the United States in Japan. Every day his inventiveness, passion and relentlessness are on full display,” Kurt Campbell, deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, told NBC News.
In the summer months, tension has risen between China and the United States. While at the United Nations General Assembly, President Joe Biden told world leaders in a speech that he does not want to contain China or any other countries. Biden continued adding that the United States is ready to work together with China “on issues where progress hinges on our common efforts.”