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Article snippet: WASHINGTON — Stephen K. Bannon met privately with a top Chinese government official and a key leader in the Persian Gulf during a recent trip to Asia and the Middle East, demonstrating that President Trump’s former chief strategist is still viewed as an influential figure abroad. In Beijing, Mr. Bannon spent 90 minutes with Wang Qishan, a powerful member of the standing committee of the Chinese Politburo who is leading President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign. In the United Arab Emirates, he met the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who arguably has more sway over American policy in the region than any other Arab leader. The trip this month came just a few weeks after Mr. Bannon was forced out of the White House, returning to his role as an outside agitator for his nationalist agenda. But if Mr. Bannon’s day-to-day access to Mr. Trump has diminished, his reputation as an ideological bomb-thrower has not, particularly in countries like China that zealously monitor American politics. John L. Thornton, a former president of Goldman Sachs who has taught at Tsinghua University in Beijing and has longstanding ties to the Chinese leadership, helped arrange Mr. Bannon’s meeting with Mr. Wang, which was first reported by the Financial Times on Thursday. He met with two other Chinese officials while in Beijing, one of whom selects articles from the People’s Daily for the Chinese leadership, according to two people briefed on the meeting... Link to the full article to read more