China rivalry will continue for years, U.S. ambassador Burns says in interview
The United States will judge China “on its actions, not just its words,” U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said, as the two rivals try to improve ties.
BEIJING — The United States will judge China “on its actions, not just its words,” U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns told NBC News, as the two rival powers try to improve ties even as they remain locked in competition that Burns said would continue “into the next decade.”
Both countries have expressed the desire for a more stable relationship, especially after relations plunged to their lowest level in decades early last year when the U.S. military shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon that had been spotted over the continental U.S. Last month, the U.S. and China’s top commanders in the Indo-Pacific resumed formal communications for the first time since 2022, which is vital for avoiding inadvertent military conflict.
“It’s very important that we have these channels of communication,” Burns said in an exclusive interview in Beijing on Wednesday. “But you know, we’re going to judge the People’s Republic of China on its actions, not just its words.”
The world’s two biggest economies are increasingly viewing each other through the lens of national security, including in strategically important sectors such as semiconductors, quantum computing, artificial intelligence and biotechnology.
“We’re structural rivals,” Burns said. “So I see this competition extending for years into the next decade.”
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