US Senate confirms appointment of Nicholas Burns as next China ambassador

US Senate on Thursday confirmed the appointment of career diplomat Nicholas Burns as US ambassador in China.

Burns was confirmed by a 75-18 vote on Thursday, Sputnik reported.

In August, US President Joe Biden on Friday announced R. Nicholas Burns as the country's nominee for Ambassador to China.

Burns, a respected former career member of the Foreign Service, currently serves as Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

He is also Executive Director of the Aspen Strategy Group and Security Forum and Senior Counselor at the Cohen Group.

During his State Department career, Burns served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. As Under Secretary, he worked with the Chinese government on issues as diverse as Afghanistan, United Nations Sanctions against Iran, North Korea, and US policy in the Indo-Pacific.

 

In October, Burns said during a confirmation hearing that China represents the greatest security threat to the United States and the democratic world and unlike Washington, Beijing has no real allies.

Burns said that the United States and China should work on improving their communications in order to avert the possibility of a conflict and maintain regional peace. Burns promised to communicate directly with Chinese officials and to facilitate meetings with US counterparts, including Biden as well as lawmakers.

However, Burns called on Congress and the Biden administration to scale up security cooperation and arms provisions to Taiwan to defend itself from China.