US envoy to China says next steps to improve relations are up to Beijing
- ‘We’ve never been shy of talking and we hope the Chinese will meet us halfway,’ Nicholas Burns says
- Burns’ remarks come as the US-China relationship, now characterised by deep distrust, founders over trade, Taiwan, human rights and other issues
US doors are open, the US is waiting and it is up to Beijing to make the next move to improve relations, Washington’s senior diplomat in China said on Tuesday.
Ambassador Nicholas Burns, a quarter-century veteran of the US State Department, spoke at a time when relations between the two nations have plummeted over trade, Taiwan, defence, human rights, politics and their very different visions of the global system, all marked by deep distrust.
“We need better channels between the two governments and deeper channels and we are ready to talk,” Burns said, speaking to the Stimson Centre in Washington by video from Beijing.
“And it’s particularly important to do that, of course, when you’ve got big problems and when you have major disagreements in the relationship.
“We’ve never been shy of talking and we hope the Chinese will meet us halfway.”
US-China relations have been marked by fits and starts in the two years since Joe Biden became US president.
