In rare rebuke, US ambassador accuses China of undermining diplomacy

BEIJING—In November last year, President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to boost engagement between ordinary Chinese and Americans, part of an effort to repair fraying ties ahead of a tense election year in the U.S.

Instead, says Nicholas Burns, Washington’s ambassador in Beijing, China has actively undermined those ties, interrogating and intimidating citizens who attend U.S.-organized events in China, ramping up restrictions on the embassy’s social-media posts and whipping up anti-American sentiment.

“They say they’re in favor of reconnecting our two populations, but they’re taking dramatic steps to make it impossible," Burns said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The 68-year-old Burns, a veteran diplomat who took up his post in April 2022, used unusually forceful language to criticize what he described as an effort by Beijing to weaken America’s standing and disrupt its diplomatic activities in China.

The remarks by Burns show that, behind a fragile detente reached last year, there has been growing concern among U.S. officials about Beijing’s sincerity in improving relations.

Burns, who spoke to the Journal at his embassy office in the Chinese capital, also took aim at Beijing for what he described as efforts to stir up anti-American sentiment domestically, saying that he was particularly concerned about the recent stabbing of four Iowa college instructors in northeastern China.

China’s Foreign Ministry and State Council Information Office didn’t respond to questions from the Journal about the comments by Burns.

Relations between the U.S. and China appeared to be stabilizing after a November summit in San Francisco between Xi and Biden. While in California, Xi said he hoped some 50,000