Nicholas Burns becomes US Ambassador to China

The post of United States ambassador to China is one of the most delicate, due to the stormy relations that the two countries have maintained for several years. US President Joe Biden has appointed Nicholas Burns to this post, the White House announced on Friday, August 20.

Nicholas Burns, 65, is a seasoned diplomat. He was the American representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) between 2001 and 2005, ambassador to Greece from 1997 to 2001, spokesperson for the State Department between 1995 and 1997, and specialist in USSR, then Russia, in the White House National Security Council under George WH Bush and Bill Clinton (1990-1995).

He was also Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs between 2005 and 2008, then working “With the Chinese government on issues as diverse as Afghanistan, UN sanctions against Iran, North Korea and US policy in the Indo-Pacific region”, according to a statement from the White House.

Between 2014 and 2017, he also advised Secretary of State John Kerry, according to his biography published by Harvard University, where he currently teaches diplomacy.

Many areas of disagreement

His appointment comes as the United States is organizing, after the return to power of the Taliban, a massive operation to evacuate civilians from Afghanistan, whose border China shares 76 km. Beijing considers the instability in its neighbor as a threat to the security of its border region of Xinjiang (northwest). This territory has long been hit by attacks attributed to separatists or Islamists of the Uighur Muslim ethnicity and the Chinese authorities have imposed draconian police surveillance there for a few years.

The two superpowers are also at daggers drawn on the situation in Hong Kong, Taiwan, on human rights, trade, technologies or the origin of the pandemic due to the coronavirus.

Mr. Biden has so far hardly deviated from the confrontational policy chosen by his predecessor, Donald Trump. And, in July, China appointed to Washington Qin Gang, an ambassador known for his aggressive postures towards Western countries.

Rahm Emanuel appointed Ambassador to Japan

The President of the United States has also appointed Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Barack Obama (2009-2010) as Ambassador to Japan, Washington’s main regional ally.

At 61, Mr. Emanuel was mayor of Chicago, the third largest city in the United States, between 2011 and 2019. But he had seen his popularity drop as the shootings increased in the megalopolis of the north of the country, before relinquish a third term in 2018.

These two appointments must be validated by the Senate, where the Democrats, who have only a slim majority, face the obstruction of the Republicans on the votes of the appointed ambassadors.

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