Beijing The U.S. envoy to China believes that the two adversary nations’ ties are at their most stable point in recent memory as he gets ready to depart Beijing. However, there is no assurance that they will remain that way.
In an exclusive interview this week, Ambassador Nicholas Burns told NBC News that the relationship is still extremely difficult, frequently highly confrontational, and ultimately highly competitive. And that is something you cannot avoid. We are competitors for world dominance.
Nevertheless, Burns stated that the two largest economies in the world have realized that communication is essential and that there are instances in which cooperation with China is necessary for the benefit of the United States.
With varying degrees of cooperation with Russia, Iran, and North Korea, China is posing a growing threat to the U.S.-led international order that has prevailed since the conclusion of World War II.
The two nations blame one another for cyberattacks and the fatal U.S. fentanyl problem, and they have significant disagreements on topics including trade, technology, Taiwan’s position, and human rights.
Burns claimed that China’s military actions in the Taiwan Strait have been excessively provocative and that Beijing has committed a grave error by aiding Russia in its unlawful and savage war against Ukraine.
Beijing disputes that it is supporting the Russian war machine or launching cyberattacks against the United States, which Burns claimed are unprecedentedly deadly.
After nearly three years of handling the daily difficulties of what is frequently referred to as the most significant bilateral relationship in the world and traversing some of its lowest points in decades, Burns is ending his career.
“I believe it is the responsibility of the Chinese government to ensure that the newly established stability in relations is maintained,” Burns stated.
“If Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state, one thing the Chinese government can do is lift its sanctions on him,” he added. In 2020, Rubio and other U.S. politicians faced sanctions for criticizing the government’s crackdown on opposition in Hong Kong, which is part of China.
According to Burns, they must speak with the US secretary of state.
Burns said he had been in contact with former Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., whom Trump has stated he will appoint as his China ambassador, but he declined to openly comment on how the new Trump administration may handle the U.S.-China relationship.
Compared to the Biden administration, Trump has argued for a more aggressive stance toward the nation.
Burns stressed the significance of maintaining regional alliances that the Biden administration has strengthened in order to counter China’s influence, the future of which is uncertain as Trump begins a second term. This may be an indirect piece of advice to Trump and his Cabinet appointees.
Burns stated that we must maintain close ties with our friends, citing South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and India.
According to Burns, collaborating with partners increases and broadens American influence in the fight against some of these incredibly harmful acts by Russia, China, and other nations.
According to him, that’s one strategy for successfully competing with China, winning a share of the power struggle, and maintaining good relations with China.
Slowly thawing ties
The COVID-19 outbreak hampered face-to-face diplomacy by closing China’s borders for three years. The previous Trump administration intensified its criticism of Beijing’s response to the outbreak, which started in China, during this period.
Burns was placed in quarantine in the ambassador’s residence for the majority of his first month of work after arriving in Beijing in March 2022. This was despite the relationship he was responsible for managing reaching new lows.
People-to-people interactions, which Burns likes to refer to as the “ballast of the relationship,” have never fully recovered from the spike of Chinese nationalism and anti-Western sentiment that occurred at the same time in both official media and online platforms.
With the strongest hold on power since Mao Zedong, Chinese President Xi Jinping has launched an internal anti-corruption campaign that, in Burns’ term alone, resulted in the removal of two defense ministers and a foreign minister from office and the public glare. Some Chinese officials, scholars, and common people are less inclined to interact with foreigners as a result of the increased scrutiny.
When then-House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., traveled to the Beijing-claimed island of Taiwan in August 2022 despite China’s protests, relations reached their lowest point in decades. When the American military fired down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that had been sighted above the continental United States in early 2023, they fell even more.
According to Burns, it took us some time to get past that. Both parties have now taken steps to improve relations.
Direct military and other communications that were halted in protest of Pelosi’s visit have just lately been restored by China. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command chief and his Chinese counterpart have subsequently met twice.
That’s important because we’re working to reduce the likelihood of any mishap or miscommunication between our armed forces, Burns stated.
The U.S. fentanyl epidemic is another instance of enhanced collaboration, he said, as Biden and Xi decided to work together on it during a November 2023 conference in California. Before being converted into fentanyl in Mexico and other nations and then smuggled into the United States, many of the precursor chemicals used to produce the lethal opioid come from China.
According to Burns, the Chinese government has started taking action, resulting in 300 arrests, the suspension of illegal chemical online sales, and the export ban on 55 synthetic opioids and precursor chemicals.
Burns cited additional achievements under the Biden administration, such as the September release of David Lin and the November release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung, four Americans who had been imprisoned in China for years.
“It was an extraordinary moment for me as the American ambassador to meet them at the airport, give them their passports, and tell them that they were free people again,” Burns recalled.
More Americans are still behind bars on various charges than in any other foreign nation, even though all of the Americans the State Department believed China had illegally jailed have been freed. They are still receiving consular support.
Burns called on Congressmen of both parties to try harder to travel to China in order to maintain communication channels.
In regards to the US-China relationship, I have hawkish opinions. He added that many members of Congress also do. However, you must be present in order to comprehend the enemy, communicate with them, and be aware of the situation on the ground.
Jennifer Jett reported from Hong Kong, while Janis Mackey Frayer reported from Beijing.