US-China relations are unlikely to fundamentally change with US President Joe Biden’s nomination of career diplomat Nicholas Burns as ambassador to China, academics said yesterday.
The White House on Friday announced Biden’s “intent to nominate” Burns, who was undersecretary of state for political affairs during former US president George W. Bush’s administration and previously an ambassador to Greece and NATO.
Burns, 65, was a foreign policy adviser to Biden’s presidential campaign under now-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Photo: AFP
In the final month of the US presidential election campaign in October last year, Burns commented on news of then-US president Donald Trump testing positive for COVID-19.
“With the President’s illness amid a divisive campaign, we should not discount the possibility that China will step up pressure on Taiwan or Russia seek to take advantage in Eastern Europe. Important the U.S. signal to both that we are watching and remain fully capable,” Burns wrote on Twitter.
Shortly after Biden became president, Burns wrote on Twitter: “Why can’t the US and EU align against China on trade, human rights, 5G, democracy and the future of Hong Kong and Taiwan? We’ll be much more effective by working together.”
Arthur Ding (丁樹範), a professor emeritus of political science at National Chengchi University, said that representing US interests in China is a daunting task amid intensifying rivalry between the countries.
Many public figures, including former Disney chief executive officer Bob Iger, were said to have vied for the post, he said.
Under the threat of a contested confirmation, Burns might represent the most likely pick to find bipartisan support in the US Senate, which for the moment is united in its distrust of China, he said.
Hung Chin-fu (洪敬富), a political science professor at National Cheng Kung University, said that the nomination of Burns shows that the Biden administration prizes caution, institutionalization and predictability in diplomacy.
Biden likely expects Burns to communicate Washington’s core positions to Beijing in a measured way that best suits US interests, he said.
Chang Kuo-cheng (張國城), an international relations professor at Taipei Medical University, said that Biden might have anticipated a confirmation fight in the US Senate and already secured the votes to confirm Burns.
Biden was a long-serving member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which could have informed his decision to tap a professional diplomat and not a powerful political or business figure, he said.
The choice of Burns marks a shift for the role of the ambassador to Beijing, the ranks of which over the past decade have been filled by former politicians, not seasoned diplomats.
Burns said he looked forward to returning to public service, if confirmed by the Senate, and working on “the strategic competition between the US and the PRC [People’s Republic of China], as well as other difficult and complex challenges we face at this critical juncture in our relationship.”
The White House on Friday also announced Biden’s intent to nominate Rahm Emanuel, a former US lawmaker who served as chief of staff to former US president Barack Obama and as mayor of Chicago, to be ambassador to Japan, a US ally increasingly at odds with Beijing.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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