TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — CIA director William Burns traveled to China in May to meet with his Chinese counterparts, two U.S. officials revealed on Friday (June 2).
Though officials did not provide further details on Burns’ trip, it is a milestone for bilateral relations, which have become tense in recent years.
"Last month, Director Burns traveled to Beijing where he met with Chinese counterparts and emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in intelligence channels," one of the officials told Reuters.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to visit China in February but postponed after a Chinese spy balloon flew over U.S. airspace. In early May, U.S. President Joe Biden said that “everything changed in terms of talking to one another” following the spy balloon incident, but predicted tensions would “thaw very shortly,” CNN reported.
On May 23, the new ambassador to the U.S., Xie Feng, said China hopes to work with the U.S. “to increase dialogue, to manage differences and also to expand our cooperation so that our relationship will be back to the right track,” per CNN. Xie said he hopes to improve bilateral ties amid “serious difficulties and challenges.”
On June 2, the U.S. and Taiwan inked a trade agreement under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade. China protested the news, accusing Washington of violating the “one China” principle and urged it to cease all official contact with Taipei.
