- author, Laura Bicker
- role, China Correspondent
- Reported by Beijing
Washington and Beijing are talking more frequently to avoid conflict in the South China Sea despite their “adversarial and competitive” relationship, the US ambassador to China has told the BBC.
“Our militaries operate in very close proximity in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. We don’t want to send the wrong signal,” Nicholas Burns said in an interview in Beijing earlier this week.
The South China Sea has become a dangerous flashpoint, with Beijing’s assertiveness raising tensions with Taiwan, the Philippines and its strongest ally, the United States.
Chinese and Philippine ships have been playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse in the disputed waters in recent months, with the latest clash this week seeing Chinese coast guard officers board a Philippine vessel and attack soldiers with swords and knives.
The United States, which has rallied military alliances from Manila to Tokyo, has repeatedly vowed to defend its allies’ rights in the South China Sea.
This further strained relations with China, which were already strained by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s claims to Taiwanese autonomy, and a trade war.
Burns said these remain flashpoints that “totally divide” both sides, but it’s important to try to “bring people together” wherever possible.
“China has agreed to strengthen military-to-military communications, which is very important to us. We want to ensure communication because the last thing we want is misunderstandings that lead to accidents or conflict,” the 68-year-old diplomat said.
Tensions have eased, but the upcoming US presidential elections could once again upset relations between the two countries.
“We have warned China not to interfere in our elections in any way,” Burns said, adding that the US was “deeply concerned” about that possibility.
Earlier this year, FBI officials said China may continue its efforts to stoking division and spread disinformation online.
The ambassador said the FBI also has evidence of “cyber attacks by Chinese authorities” against the U.S. Beijing has always denied allegations of state-sponsored cyber warfare and said the country has also been a victim of such crimes.
Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump are competing to take a tougher stance against Beijing and see the strategy as a way to win votes. In May, President Biden announced a series of new tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles, solar panels and other products. Although few electric vehicles are imported into the United States, Ambassador Burns denied that domestic politics influenced the decision.
He called it an “economic measure” to protect American jobs, but warned that China could retaliate with tariffs of its own.
But despite the rivalry, there are some silver linings.
Before sitting down for our interview, Burns met with China’s climate change envoy as the world’s two biggest polluters seek ways to reduce harmful emissions.
Washington and Beijing are also holding what they called “high-level consultations” to stop the drug fentanyl from reaching the US, which Burns described as “critically important.”
Most of the talks are held at the cabinet level, with meetings with President Xi Jinping limited to visits by senior U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The two sides also pledged to work toward more “people-to-people” exchanges, after the number of U.S. students studying in China fell to 800 from about 15,000 in 2011.
Xi hopes to pave the way for 50,000 American students to come to China over the next five years. During a visit to San Francisco last November, Xi said “exchanges and cooperation are the ultimate aspirations of the two peoples.”
But Burns accused some in the Chinese government of not taking the kind words seriously: “Since the San Francisco summit, there have been 61 incidents of security forces or government departments preventing Chinese nationals from participating in public diplomacy programs at our consulates or embassies, or from traveling to the United States to take part in joint trips, making it very difficult to unite people.”
Meanwhile, Chinese students and academics have reported being unfairly targeted by US border authorities. The Beijing Embassy in Washington has formally protested, accusing US authorities of “unfairly” questioning, harassing, cancelling the visas of, and even deporting, several Chinese students with valid travel permits upon their arrival in the US.
Washington has also issued a “Level 3” travel advisory for China, urging travellers to “reconsider”. Burns denied that the warning was inconsistent with the US call to “bring people together”, but rather was a precautionary measure.
“We have Americans imprisoned here who we believe have been wrongfully detained and wrongly charged. I have visited these prisoners and I want their release,” he said, adding that several Americans have been subject to an “exit ban” from China, having their passports confiscated at airports and unable to leave the country.
China, meanwhile, has removed the United States from its list of countries that are visa-free for trips of up to 15 days, while Australia remains on the list after China recently restored ties with Canberra.
People-to-people contact, a relatively easy goal in an otherwise fractious relationship, has proven so difficult, perhaps reflecting a continuing lack of trust on both sides.
But the biggest fault line at the moment is likely the war in Ukraine.
The United States appears to believe that China holds the key to thwarting Russian advances on the battlefield, and Ambassador Burns reiterated Washington’s message that Beijing’s support for a Moscow aggression will not be tolerated.
“China is not neutral in this war,” he said. “China is showing its true colors. It’s supporting Russia and supporting President Putin in waging this barbaric war against Ukrainian civilians. We know what Chinese companies are shipping and how it’s affecting Russia’s ability to wage this war.”
He said there were “tens of thousands” of Chinese companies that backed Moscow. “We have sanctioned a number of them and are prepared to impose further sanctions if the Russian government does not back down.”
His comments echoed those of the G7 in Italy last week, which said China’s support for Russia was “enabling” the war in Ukraine and warned of further sanctions to punish Chinese companies for helping Russia circumvent Western trade embargoes.
Beijing has dismissed the warnings as “full of arrogance, prejudice and lies.”
Still, some would say it was an improvement over 2022. After then-Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, an infuriated Chinese government cut off all cabinet-level communications in Washington. In early 2023, relations took another nosedive on the eve of Blinken’s visit, when he canceled his visit after the U.S. shot down a Chinese high-altitude balloon that had flown across North American airspace.
Relations between the two countries finally stabilized when Biden and President Xi met in San Francisco in November last year.
Burns said his first two years in office were difficult, with little communication with Chinese officials.
He said relations between the two countries are currently “relatively good” but that the road ahead is tough, adding: “This extremely difficult conflict is likely to continue for some time to come.”
