The United States’ ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, is accusing Beijing of going against its agreement to repair relations between Chinese and U.S. citizens.
After President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met last year, the duo agreed to boost engagement among regular citizens, but Burns told The Wall Street Journal that China has actively undermined that agreement.
For example, the Journal reported, citizens who attend events organized by the U.S. in China have been interrogated and intimidated. The embassy has also had increased restrictions on its social media posts.
“They say they’re in favor of reconnecting our two populations, but they’re taking dramatic steps to make it impossible,” Burns told the Journal.
The outlet noted that Burns used “unusually forceful language” to criticize China’s effort to weaken America’s standing with its citizens and disrupt diplomatic activities.
Tensions between the two countries appeared to be stabilizing after a summit last November in San Francisco, where Biden and Xi met and agreed to improve relations between the countries.
Since then, top Biden administration officials have traveled to China to continue discussions.
Burns told the outlet that China has increased its suppression of American diplomatic activities. He said there were 61 events since the San Francisco summit where China’s Ministry of State Security or other governmental agencies pressured Chinese citizens not to attend the event or intimidate those who did go.
The Journal said the events are hosted by the U.S. Embassy and include talks on mental health, women’s entrepreneurship, documentary films and cultural performances.
“What they tell us and what they tell the world is they want people-to-people engagement, and yet this is not just episodic. This is routine. This is nearly every public event,” Burns said.
Burns also said Chinese students are being restricted when it comes to attending U.S. universities, which he claims China has made more difficult.
At college fairs across China, those who seek to promote American universities have had their invitations rescinded and many of the students chosen for an exchange program have backed out due to pressure.
Additionally, the U.S. issued more than 100,000 student visas to Chinese citizens in 2023 and said it would issue more but is struggling to do so because the U.S. Embassy cannot hire Chinese employees.
Burns added that he hopes that China will reconsider its actions.
Burns’ statements follow the news that four U.S. college instructors teaching in in Jilin City, China, were stabbed by a civilian earlier this month.
Burns said he’s not satisfied that he’s been given sufficient information about the motive behind the attack. He has served as the U.S. Ambassador to China since 2022.
“I’ve been concerned for my two-plus years here about the very aggressive Chinese government…efforts to denigrate America, to tell a distorted story about American society, American history, American policy,” he said. “it happens every day on all the networks available to the government here, and there’s a high degree of anti-Americanism online.”
