News/Commentary

Janet Yellen’s embarrassing protocol breach in China takes cue from Barack Obama: ‘Never, ever, ever’

July 9, 2023 | | Print Article

As if morale in America isn’t low enough at the moment, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen went all the way to Beijing to humiliate the United States with a string of unrequited, submissive bows to her Chinese counterpart in a move that recalled former President Barack Obama’s groveling greeting for Japanese Emperor Akihito back in 2015.

Halfway through a four-day trip to meet with senior officials of the People’s Republic of China — a visit made, according to the Treasury Department’s website, to discuss the “importance for our countries – as the world’s two largest economies – to responsibly manage our relationship” — Yellen, 76, grasped the hand of Xi Jinping’s newly appointed economy czar, He Lifeng, and bowed at least three times.

Meanwhile, He stood tall, allowing Yellen all the room she needed to signal America’s weakness.


As a former White House senior staffer under George W. Bush, Bradley Blakeman was appalled.

“Never, ever, ever,” he told the New York Post. “An American official does not bow. It looks like she’s been summoned to the principal’s office, and that’s exactly the optics the Chinese love.”

Jerome A. Cohen, an emeritus professor at NYU and a Chinese law and government expert, agreed.

“Bowing is not part of the accepted protocol,” he stated.

To make matters worse, after bobbing up and down for the Xi loyalist, she bungled his name, calling him “Vice Premier Hu” in her opening statements.

It’s the same shameful first impression Obama made when he all but genuflected before Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko in Japan — a gesture that sparked sharp criticism back home.

(Video: YouTube)

“They’re peers. … Unfortunately, it isn’t correct for a chief of state to bow to another chief of state,” Pamela Eyring, the president of The Protocol School of Washington, told FoxNews.com at the time. “It’s not appropriate. He should not be bowing to other chiefs of state.”

“When you’re representing the United States of America, everything speaks … on behalf of our country,” she explained. “It’s a visual. It shows more of a subservient look.”

But it seems Democrats like to rock the “subservient look” on behalf of the nation, as one Twitter user pointed out.


“What an anti-American disgrace this administration is,” the popular “Rising serpent” account tweeted.

“When you have a deep understanding about the weak position your country is at, your body language shows…..” noted another user.

“No wonder we are the laughingstock of the world,” stated a third. “At least she did not get on her knees and kiss his feet…or maybe they just did not video it!!”

Yellen departs Beijing on Sunday, and, at a press conference at the U.S. embassy, she was optimistic, boasting that she believed her visit was a positive step toward America’s goal to “put the U.S.-China relationship on surer footing,” Fox Business reports.

“The U.S. and China have significant disagreements,” she said, referring to what she characterized as “unfair economic practices” and recent punishment against U.S. companies.

“But President Biden and I do not see the relationship between the U.S. and China through the frame of great power conflict,” Yellen said. “We believe that the world is big enough for both of our countries to thrive.”

“I do think we’ve made some progress,” she continued, “and I think we can have a healthy economic relationship that benefits both of us and the world.”

When questioned about Russia’s reported announcement that it will “launch a BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, and China] currency in August,” Yellen dismissed the threat it could pose to the dollar, and therefore, to America.

“I think the United States can rest assured that the dollar is going to play the dominant role in international transactions, facilitating international transactions, and serving as a reserve currency in the years ahead,” she said. “I don’t see that role being threatened by any development, including the one that you’ve mentioned.”

“All of the data of which I’m aware shows that the dollar is overwhelmingly – close to 90% – used in international transactions,” she stated, “and I don’t think that there is an alternative that could possibly displace that in the foreseeable future.”

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Melissa Fine
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