A port CEO panned Trump’s tariffs. Then a Chinese envoy’s wife sent praise

As the caput of the Port of Los Angeles was doing a flurry of media interviews informing of the harm caused by United States President Donald Trump’s tariffs past month, helium received an email filled with effusive praise from a notable metropolis resident.

Wang Wei, the woman of Chinese Consul General Guo Shaochun, wanted Port of Los Angeles CEO Gene Seroka to cognize that she recovered his views “practical, well-reasoned, and precise convincing”.

“I was pleasantly amazed to spot your interrogation connected Fox News this afternoon, wherever you shared your insights connected the interaction of the US-China tariff struggle connected larboard trade,” Wang wrote successful the email connected May 6.

“Later, I browsed YouTube and discovered that you person precocious been interviewed by respective large networks, including CNN and CNBC etc. I conscionable knew you are specified a well-known personage and entrepreneur successful the concern field,” Wang continued.

“Thank you for actively speaking up and advocating for the improvement and speech of US-China trade.”

Seroka responded the adjacent day, thanking Wang for her message.

“We volition proceed to champion satellite trade,” helium wrote. “There is truthful overmuch we request to bash together.”

The emails, obtained by Al Jazeera done a nationalist records request, supply an antithetic penetration into behind-the-scenes Chinese lobbying against Trump’s commercialized war, which has been directed astir intensely astatine Beijing.

China has fiercely opposed Trump’s tariffs, the astir terrible of which person been paused arsenic Washington and Beijing enactment towards a broad commercialized deal, accusing his medication of protectionism and “unilateral bullying”.

Trump speaks during a swearing-in ceremonial for the ambassador to China, erstwhile Republican Senator of Georgia David Perdue, astatine the White House successful Washington, DC, connected May 7, 2025 [Jim Watson/AFP]

While the US authorities has grown sceptical of Chinese commercialized arsenic it seeks to incorporate China’s rise, authorities and section authorities – specified arsenic the Port of Los Angeles, a self-supporting section of the City of Los Angeles – are much inclined to spot the benefits of concern betwixt the sides.

In the week that Wang and Seroka exchanged emails, the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest seaport successful the Western Hemisphere, announced that cargo had dropped 35 percent compared with the erstwhile year.

When contacted for remark by Al Jazeera, Seroka, who has argued successful interviews that “no 1 wins” from a protracted US-China commercialized war, said his speech with Wang was emblematic of his enactment arsenic larboard CEO.

“Having lived successful China and different Pacific Rim countries, I person a wide scope of planetary concern relationships. Ms Wang Wei is 1 of many,” helium said, adding that “all are successful the people of promoting concern astatine the Port of Los Angeles”.

China’s consulate successful Los Angeles and embassy successful Washington, DC did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite tensions betwixt Washington and Beijing, a much pragmatic, pro-business presumption of ties is wide shared astatine the authorities and section level.

Diplomacy betwixt lower-level officials of the countries is not uncommon, arsenic reflected successful events specified arsenic the US-China Sister Cities Summit held past twelvemonth successful Tacoma, Washington state.

Such engagement, however, has drawn scrutiny from Washington.

In 2022, the US National Counterintelligence and Security Centre (NCSC) warned that China aimed to exploit “subnational relationships” with section officials and legislators “to power US policies and beforehand PRC geopolitical interests”.

The NCSC has much precocious issued warnings astir Chinese concern into US tech start-ups and efforts by quality agencies posing arsenic consulting firms oregon deliberation tanks to enlistee existent and erstwhile US officials.

While overseas diplomats routinely person interaction with section officials and businesspeople astir authorities policy, it is antithetic for their household members to measurement successful connected specified matters, a erstwhile Western diplomat successful China told Al Jazeera.

“Spouses oregon different household members of diplomats don’t typically prosecute with big state counterparts connected argumentation issues, unless determination happens to beryllium an established idiosyncratic relationship,” the ex-diplomat said, speaking connected information of anonymity.

“In backstage societal settings, household members bash speech astir argumentation with different diplomats and/or radical from the big country, but successful my acquisition it’s antithetic for a spouse to measurement successful – adjacent privately – with a big state counterpart connected a argumentation issue.”

A erstwhile US diplomat successful China expressed a akin view.

“From conscionable astir immoderate state successful the world, it would beryllium precise antithetic to person the spouse of a consul wide remark successful that way,” the ex-diplomat, who requested anonymity, told Al Jazeera.

“China, sometimes, tin beryllium different. Rarely, but sometimes, the spouse of a Chinese diplomat is besides a authorities official. In those cases, they whitethorn prosecute successful this way. Otherwise, it would usually beryllium constricted to comments connected people-to-people oregon taste programmes.”

Still, US authorities warnings astir Chinese engagement with authorities and section authorities are mostly “overblown”, the erstwhile diplomat said, calling “90 percent” of specified enactment harmless.

“In astir cases, it’s innocuous. The occupation comes erstwhile they commencement throwing wealth around,” helium said.