Despite the commitments made by the leaders of the United States and China during their summit in San Francisco last November to enhance people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns stated that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been actively taking actions to disrupt the consensus between the two nations. He condemned the CCP for saying one thing and doing another, describing it as a “serious breach of trust.”
“They say they support resuming civilian exchanges, but in reality, the radical actions they take make it impossible,” Burns said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
In the interview, he also revealed many things contrary to CCP propaganda. In response to the CCP’s frequent accusation that the US hinders Chinese students from studying in the US, Burns said the Chinese government is making it harder for Chinese students to come to the US for university studies. The US embassy stated that university fairs across China have withdrawn invitations to US diplomats to promote US universities to high school students and parents, citing ideological or national security reasons.
He also disclosed that in the past two years, about half of the participants selected for US-funded exchange programs have dropped out due to pressure from the government, schools, and employers.
“They tell us, they tell the world that they want to promote people-to-people exchanges, but this kind of thing (referring to CCP’s obstruction of US personnel promoting US universities to students) is not coincidental, it’s a norm. Almost every public event is like this,” Burns said. “This is a serious breach of trust, and we hope China (CCP) reconsiders.”
In the fiscal year ending September 2023, the US State Department issued 105,000 visas to Chinese students and scholars.
In response to the CCP’s accusations of the US harshly interrogating Chinese students arriving in the US and sometimes denying entry, Burns countered that over 99% of student visa holders can pass the immigration authorities’ screening process. However, he emphasized, “You must truthfully fill out the visa application form, or you won’t get through.”
A State Department spokesperson previously openly stated that 99.9% of Chinese students with visas entered the US, with less than 0.1% being denied entry.
In September 2020, Reuters reported that thousands of Chinese student visas were denied. A survey in June 2021 found that the majority of 310 participating students had studied at “The Seven Sons of National Defense” or Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications during their undergraduate studies, or received official support from the CCP.
During the interview with Huari, Burns also criticized the CCP for not allowing the US embassy to hire any Chinese employees for three years, even after the summit in San Francisco last November. This has hindered the embassy’s visa processing speed. He said that having more Chinese employees could issue more visas.
Huari stated that Burns’ remarks indicate growing concern among US officials over China’s (CCP) sincerity in improving bilateral relations following the fragile reconciliation reached at last year’s summit.
Not only did Burns criticize the CCP’s double-talk, but Ukrainian President Zelensky also rare …