“We do not believe that there should be a crisis in US-China relations because of the visit — the peaceful visit — of the Speaker of the House to Taiwan…it was a crisis engineered by the Beijing government was an overreaction,” Burns told CNN from the US embassy on Friday.
It is now “the task of the government here in Beijing to convince the rest of the world that it will act peacefully in the future,” said the ambassador.
“I think there’s a lot of concern around the world that China has now become an agent of instability in the Taiwan Straits, and that’s in nobody’s interest.”
Burns, a career diplomat and former US ambassador to NATO, arrived in Beijing in March to take up arguably the most important US diplomatic post – navigating US-China relations already beset by tensions in a number of countries Issues, including China’s human rights, have weighed on record, trade practices and military expansion in the South China Sea.
China’s tough Covid-19 restrictions have also reduced diplomatic travel to and from China, putting Burns even more directly at the forefront of managing the increasingly contentious relationship between the world’s two largest economies.
That became clear on the night of August 2, when Burns received a subpoena to meet Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Feng, just as the plane carrying Pelosi and her congressional delegation landed in Taipei.
“We had a very spirited, I would say quite controversial meeting,” Burns said, detailing that discussion for the first time, which was then confirmed by both Washington and Beijing.
“I defended the speaker. I defended her right to go to Taiwan. I have defended the peace and stability that we have had across the Taiwan Strait for nearly six decades,” Burns said, adding that he challenged Xie to ensure the Chinese government acted in a way that “peace and promotes stability”.
Instead, Burns said, Beijing tailored its response, including sending missiles over Taiwan, to “intimidate and coerce Taiwanese authorities” and “waged a global campaign” blaming the US for what it did as undermining cross-strait stability.
“We were very, very clear about that (while maintaining our policy). The question is – will a government respond aggressively and violently to disrupt the peace? This has to affect everyone in the world,” he said.
diplomatic consequences
The US adheres to a “one China” policy, but has never accepted the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan. Washington maintains “strategic ambiguity” over whether it would come to Taiwan’s defenses in the event of a Chinese attack.
The Communist Party has long vowed to “unite” the island, which it never controlled, with mainland China by force if necessary.
China condemned the Pelosi visit as a violation of its “sovereignty and territorial integrity,” with Burns’ counterpart, Chinese Ambassador to the US Qin Gang, saying earlier this month the US must “take responsibility” for the situation it has created .
Beijing’s diplomatic retaliation included canceling future phone calls and meetings between Chinese and US defense leaders and suspending bilateral climate talks between the countries – the world’s two biggest emitters of carbon.
Those actions and Pelosi’s visit follow a phone call between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in late July, in which both sides said their teams would stay in touch over working together, including – according to the White House – on one possible face-to-face meetings. The two did not meet in person during Biden’s tenure as president, as Xi conducted most of his Covid-era diplomacy via video link.
Burns said Beijing’s diplomatic actions after Pelosi’s visit could have global ramifications, adding that China’s suspension of climate talks would affect the Global South and countries most vulnerable to climate change.
“We urge (China) to return to the negotiating table with the United States on climate,” Burns said.
“We should 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 while there is official contact through their respective countries there were embassies, there was “no substitute” for high-level talks at cabinet level.
Asked whether any lessons Beijing may have learned from monitoring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could be applied to Taiwan, Burns said the US was “watching China very closely on how it manages its relations with Russia.”
China has refused to condemn the invasion or label it as such.
“We have made it very clear that if there is systemic Chinese government support for Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, there will be consequences,” he said, adding that they had not seen such support.
house connections
Burns has used sensitive briefs in the past. He was a senior official who negotiated sensitive issues such as Iran’s nuclear program, military aid to Israel and the US-India civilian nuclear deal. And this time, he says, the US China Mission is trying its “best to connect with its counterparts.”
Connecting with the Chinese public is another “big goal,” said the ambassador, who has made several visits to China since his first trip in 1988, including a visit to mark the handover of Hong Kong from the UK to China in 1997.
But Burns said his work of reaching out to Chinese people both in person and through the embassy’s social media channels has also been challenged by China’s zero-Covid control measures – which can make domestic travel and face-to-face meetings more difficult – and regularly censored the embassy’s posts on Chinese social media platforms.
“We firmly believe that our need is to go out and visit people and conduct diplomacy with the Chinese people and the Chinese government. So we definitely want to see the day come when zero-Covid ends, but that’s really a decision not for us, that’s for the Chinese government,” said the ambassador, who spent more than 30 days in China during his time there quarantine ordered by the Chinese government.
“Harmful censorship” by Chinese authorities has resulted in the embassy’s social media posts, including those about US China policy, Hong Kong, NATO and support for LGBTQI Pride, being censored, Burns said.
At the same time, Burns said he was “troubled” by Chinese government narratives blaming the war in Ukraine on the United States and NATO, not Russia, which launched the invasion – an issue he denied to his approached Chinese counterparts .
Despite these challenges and the US’ promise to “compete responsibly” with China, Burns called for China to meet the US “halfway” to discuss both their differences and the issues on which they may be working for the greater good cooperate: “You have to show up at the negotiating table to cooperate,” he said.