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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Beijing making US-China exchanges ‘impossible’: US ambassador Nicholas Burns

  • Mainland officials have interfered in 61 public events organised by the American embassy since November, says long-time diplomat

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Nicholas Burns, US ambassador to China, assumed his post in Beijing in 2022. Photo: Bloomberg
Bochen Hanin Washington

US ambassador to China Nick Burns has accused Beijing of preventing Chinese citizens from taking part in American government programmes and thus making people-to-people exchange between the two countries “impossible”.

In interview excerpts published on Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal, Burns said mainland officials have interfered in 61 public events organised by the US embassy in Beijing since November, either by pressuring Chinese citizens not to go or trying to intimidate those who did.

“They say they’re in favour of reconnecting our two populations, but they’re taking dramatic steps to make it impossible,” he added, calling disturbances of embassy events “routine”.

The long-time diplomat said Beijing had fuelled anti-American sentiment, restricted Chinese citizens’ access to US embassy social-media posts and made it harder for mainland students to attend American universities.
Visitors line up outside the US embassy in Beijing in August 2022. Photo: AP
Visitors line up outside the US embassy in Beijing in August 2022. Photo: AP

The US has long accused Beijing of discouraging Chinese citizens from taking part in American government-funded activities.

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