China must show it is not an ‘agent of instability’ in Taiwan, US ambassador to China says

Burns, a career diplomat and former U.S. ambassador to NATO, arrived in Beijing in March to take on perhaps the most important U.S. diplomatic post — managing U.S.-China relations already strained by tensions over a number of issues including China’s human rights record, trade practices and military expansion in the South China Sea.

China’s strict Covid-19 restrictions have also reduced diplomatic travel in and out of China, putting Burns even more prominently on the front line of dealing with the increasingly contentious relationship between the world’s two largest economies.

That became clear on the night of Aug. 2, when Burns received a summons to meet with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng at what he described as the exact moment the plane carrying Pelosi and her congressional delegation landed in Taipei.

“We had a very lively, I would say quite contentious meeting,” Burns said, detailing for the first time that discussion, which was confirmed by Washington and Beijing at the time.

“I defended the speaker. I defended her right to travel to Taiwan. I have protected the peace and stability that we have had in the Taiwan Strait for almost six decades,” Burns said, adding that he challenged Xie to ensure that the Chinese government would act in a way that would “promote peace and stability.”

Instead, Burns said, Beijing has designed its response, including sending missiles over Taiwan, to “intimidate and coerce the Taiwanese authorities” and has “conducted a global campaign” blaming the US for what it sees as undermining stability in the Taiwan Strait. .

“We’ve been very, very clear about (maintaining our policy). The question is – will a government react in an aggressive and violent manner to disturb the peace? This should worry everyone in the world,” he said.

Diplomatic consequences

The US supports the “One China” policy, but has never accepted the ruling Communist Party of China’s claim to sovereignty over Taiwan. Washington maintains “strategic ambiguity” over whether it will defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.

The Communist Party has long vowed to “unify” the island, which it has never controlled, with mainland China, by force if necessary.

China condemned Pelosi’s visit as a violation of its “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” and Burns’ counterpart, Chinese ambassador to the U.S. Qing Gan earlier this month said the U.S. must “take responsibility” for the situation it created.

Beijing’s diplomatic retaliation included canceling future phone calls and meetings between Chinese and US defense leaders and ending bilateral climate talks between the two countries, the world’s two biggest carbon emitters.

Those measures and Pelosi’s visit came after a phone call between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in late July, in which the two sides said their teams would stay in touch about cooperation, including – according to the White House – a potential meeting face to face. The two have not met in person during Biden’s time as president, with Xi conducting most of his Covid-era diplomacy via video link.

Burns said Beijing’s diplomatic moves after Pelosi’s visit could have global effects, adding that China’s suspension of climate talks would affect the Global South and countries most vulnerable to climate change.

“We strongly urge (China) to return to the negotiating table with the United States on climate,” Burns said.

“We need to have regular high-level talks on the issues that divide us because it is in the best interest of both countries and certainly in the best interest of the world,” he said, adding that although there had been official contact through their respective embassies, there was “no substitute” for senior cabinet-level talks.

Asked whether any lessons Beijing may have learned from watching the Russian invasion of Ukraine could be applied to Taiwan, Burns said the US is “watching China very carefully as it maintains its relationship with Russia.”

China refused to condemn the incursion or call it such.

“We have been very clear that there will be consequences if there is systematic support from the Chinese government for Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine,” he said, adding that they had seen no such support.

Building connections

Burns has featured sensitive briefs in the past. He was a leading official negotiating difficult issues such as Iran’s nuclear program, military aid to Israel, and the US-India civilian nuclear deal. And this time, he says the U.S. mission in China is making “maximum efforts to reach out” to its counterparts.

Forging links with the Chinese public is another “big ambition”, said the ambassador, who has traveled to China several times since his first trip in 1988, including a visit for the UK’s handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

But Burns said his work to connect with Chinese, both in person and through the embassy’s social media channels, has also been challenged by China’s zero-Covid containment measures — which can make domestic travel and in-person meetings difficult — and its regular measures censor embassy posts on Chinese social media platforms.

“We feel very strongly that we need to go out and visit the people and conduct diplomacy with the Chinese people as well as the Chinese government. So we certainly want to see the day when zero COVID is over, but that’s really not a decision for us, it’s for the Chinese government,” said the ambassador, who spent more than 30 days in a Chinese government-imposed quarantine during during your stay there.

“Pernicious censorship” by Chinese authorities has resulted in the censoring of embassy posts on social media, including those about US China policy, Hong Kong, NATO and support for LGBTQI Pride, Burns said.

At the same time, Burns said he was “disturbed” by Chinese government narratives that blamed the war in Ukraine on the United States and NATO, rather than Russia, which launched the invasion – a matter he said he had raised with his Chinese colleagues.

Despite these challenges and the U.S. pledge to “compete responsibly” with China, Burns urged China to meet the U.S. “halfway” both to discuss their differences and issues they could work together on. the better: “You have to come to the negotiating table to cooperate,” he said.