CIA director visited China in secret
The CIA director travelled to China in secret last month, it emerged on Friday, in a sign of Joe Biden’s concerns over deteriorating relations between Washington and Beijing.
The clandestine trip by Bill Burns is the highest level visit by a Biden administration official since a suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down by American forces earlier this year.
Mr Burns’ visit, first reported by The Financial Times, was confirmed by US officials on Friday.
The details of Mr Burns’ schedule during his trip remain classified, but one official said the CIA director met with a number of Chinese intelligence officials.
“Last month, director Burns travelled to Beijing where he met with Chinese counterparts and emphasised the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in intelligence channels,” the official said.
‘Thaw’ in relations
The Biden administration has previously raised concerns that its outreach efforts have been spurned by China, warning it raised the possibility of miscommunication spiralling into conflict.
Just this week, China rejected a US request for a meeting between the two nations’ defence chiefs at an annual security forum in Singapore, according to the Pentagon.
Mr Biden voiced optimism over an imminent “thaw” in relations between Beijing and Washington at the G7 summit in Hiroshima without providing any details.
According to the FT, Mr Burns’ trip to China took place before Mr Biden made the remark.
America’s top spy chief is also an experienced former diplomat who enjoys a unique place within Mr Biden’s inner circle and is often entrusted with some of its most sensitive missions.
In November 2021, the US president sent Mr Burns to Moscow to warn Russian officials not to invade Ukraine.
Mr Burns, 67, is more familiar with Vladmir Putin’s thinking than most in the Biden administration, having served two stints in Russia, including as the US ambassador to Moscow from 2005 to 2008.
The White House also dispatched Mr Burns to Congress last year in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade Nancy Pelosi, who was the House Speaker at the time, not to travel to Taiwan.
Mrs Pelosi’s trip to the island, which Beijing sees as a part of its sovereign territory despite decades of self-rule, provoked a furious response.
US-China relations have deteriorated further since a suspected Chinese spy balloon was spotted hovering above sensitive military installations in North America in February.
The US military shot down the massive white balloon in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Pentagon later said the balloon was part of a vast fleet that has conducted surveillance on at least five continents for several years.
Beijing rebuked the US for “malicious hype” over the balloon, claiming it was a civilian meteorology “airship” and called its downing a “violation”.
