Nicholas Burns finally wins Senate approval to become US ambassador to China

Wrangling over his nomination had left US President Joe Biden without an official envoy to Beijing 11 months into his administration

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida lifted his hold on the nomination after winning passage of his Uygur Forced Labour Prevention Act

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Nicholas Burns, shown during Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings in October on his nomination as US ambassador to China. On Thursday, the Senate approved his nomination. Photo: AP

Published: 6:56am, 17 Dec 2021Updated: 6:45pm, 17 Dec 2021

The US Senate approved long-time diplomat Nicholas Burns on Thursday to be the country’s next ambassador to China, after a Republican hold on his nomination was lifted in exchange for passage of a bill to counter China’s alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

The confirmation marked the last hurdle in a congressional tussle over the nomination that had left US President Joe Biden without an envoy to Beijing 11 months into his administration.

“If there’s a place that we need an ambassador, it’s China,” Senator Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, said ahead of the vote. “We’ve spent so much time, both in committee [and] on the floor, hearing about the challenges of China, but we don’t have a US ambassador to help us meet those challenges.”

Senators voted 75-18 to confirm Burns.

Confirmed along with him were Rashad Hussain as the State Department’s ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom and Ramin Toloui as the assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs.

Chinese observers said Burns, who was known for his implementation of policies rather than being a trailblazer, would not play a big role in the rapidly declining US-China relationship.

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