The acting head of the US embassy in Beijing has resigned over his country’s withdrawal from the Paris climate change accord, the latest sign of resistance among American government officials to the policies of the Trump administration.
David Rank announced his departure as US deputy chief of mission in a town-hall meeting at the embassy on Monday, according to people briefed on what was said. He flew to the US on Tuesday.
Mr Rank, a career state department official who has been privately critical of the Trump administration, was supposed to have delivered the formal notification of the US exit from the global climate change pact. He told his embassy colleagues on Monday that he could not support that policy. The announcement created “shock” among those listening, one of the people briefed on the matter said.