Peng Liyuan’s English exchange with Melania Trump draws attention

China's first lady Peng Liyuan has drawn attention for speaking in English with U.S. first lady Melania Trump without a visible translator during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Washington.

China’s first lady Peng Liyuan has drawn attention for speaking in English with U.S. first lady Melania Trump without a visible translator during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Washington.

On Wednesday, Xi and Peng arrived in Washington for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump and Melania Trump greeted the Chinese couple at Joint Base Andrews.

After Xi and Peng stepped off the plane, the two couples spoke with the help of interpreters. But as they walked along the red carpet, Peng and Melania appeared to chat directly, without a visible translator.

Peng appeared to ask about Trump’s youngest son, Barron, and raised a hand in an apparent reference to his height. During another brief exchange, she appeared to mouth the word “wonderful,” according to reports based on footage of the encounter.

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The two women were also seen speaking without a visible translator during a joint visit on Thursday to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art.

The visit included a tour of the museum’s Peacock Room and a meeting with American teenagers who performed Chinese songs for the first ladies. Peng encouraged the students to continue studying Chinese language and culture and to become “envoys of friendship” between China and the United States, according to China’s ambassador to Washington, Xie Feng.

Xie highlighted the encounter on X, posting a video of Peng applauding the performance.

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Joe Mazur, a geopolitics analyst at Beijing-based consultancy Trivium China, said Peng’s public interactions could give a more personal dimension to otherwise difficult U.S.-China diplomacy.

“She helps to put a more human face on what otherwise can be some quite hard-nosed diplomacy and generate some kind of feel-good moments as far as US-China relations go,” Mazur said.

Peng’s English has also drawn attention online. She delivered a speech in English at the United Nations in 2015, and footage of the speech has resurfaced on social media during her Washington visit. Some users praised her English, while others attributed her pronunciation to her background as a professionally trained folk singer.