Blame game burns another hole in ties: China Daily editorial

With his long career in US diplomacy serving six presidents and nine secretaries of state and his long-term academic interests and achievements in studies of diplomacy history, US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns should know better than most China-bashing politicians in Washington the root cause of the strained Sino-US ties these years. Also, having been confirmed in the post in December 2021, he should know what has been behind the ups and downs.

However, his lashing out at Beijing for various "underhand" actions that make it "impossible" to boost ties between ordinary Chinese and American people in a strongly worded interview published by The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday just serves to show how distanced Washingtong's view of China is from the reality.

Responding to the report, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that Burns' remarks are not in line with the facts, deviate from the important consensus reached by the two heads of state during their meeting in San Francisco on the correct way for China and the United States to get along with each other, and are not conducive to the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations.

It is the US side that has left no stone unturned in seeking to scupper engagement between the two peoples, hindering and preventing academic research, business, technology, finance and industry exchanges. Not to mention the unfair restrictions that it has imposed on the activities of Chinese diplomats, reporters or any individuals in the US and its allies that it deems to be connected with the Communist Party of China or the Chinese military.

One thing that Burns shied away from in his interview is the major motive driving such remarks, which is that the Chinese people should be addressed separately to create a distinction with the CPC, in a bid to erode the national and social cohesion of China.

With all that happening, it is Burns — whose stay in China should have provided him first-hand experience on the impacts of the US' systemic strategy to contain China on the Chinese society and economy — who should appreciate that he and his colleagues are still enjoying a comparatively cordial working environment in China.

The smiling and friendly faces showing goodwill to him during his travels around the country, as shown in his appearances on CBS's 60 Minutes, which have been seen by the world including the US people, belie Burns' allegation that Beijing has been cultivating anti-US sentiment in Chinese society.

If so, Chinese students would not have made up the largest foreign student body in the US in the 2022-23 academic year, nearly 290,000, despite the US' discriminatory practices against them.

The racism against Chinese living, working and studying in the US has not receded since the former US administration openly fanned it during the COVID-19 pandemic. By inheriting and further reinforcing its predecessor's anti-China stance, the Biden administration has never sought to do anything to address that, only going further in saying one thing and doing another in dealing with China.

The image of the US in the minds of the Chinese people depends on the US itself. It is to be hoped that the US will work with China to promote cultural exchanges between the two nations through practical actions and promote the healthy and stable development of China-US relations.

If Burns really worries about the state of US-China people-to-people relations and wants to do his part to repair the ties, he should do more to tell Washington what China is really like and the harm its curbing of interactions has done to Sino-US relations, rather than trying to teach China what to do to make Washington happy.