CIA Director William Burns made secret visit to China, reports say
- The US spy chief met Chinese intelligence officials as part of a Biden administration bid to improve ties, according to Financial Times and Bloomberg
- During the trip, Burns reportedly stressed the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in intelligence channels between Washington and Beijing
William Burns, the director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, reportedly travelled to Beijing last month to meet with Chinese intelligence officials, another in a series of high-level bilateral engagements that resumed following a freeze in communications earlier this year.
Financial Times and Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar, that Burns had made the trip – his first to Beijing since he became head of the agency in 2021 – as part of efforts to keep open channels between the two countries’ intelligence communities.
On Friday, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby referred questions about Burns’ trip to the CIA, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The reports come amid increasing efforts by the Biden administration to resume dialogue with Beijing. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and the director of China’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Wang Yi, met in Vienna last month.
And last week, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met first with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Washington, then with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai in Detroit, Michigan, on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.