Burns’s visit in May, which was first reported by The Financial Times, comes as Washington tries to cool tensions with Beijing and restore lines of communication amid fears that a miscommunication between the two global powers could accidentally spiral into conflict.
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.
While these engagements represent a resumption of cooperation, the two sides remain at a distance regarding defence issues.
On Tuesday, Beijing declined an invitation from Washington to a high-level meeting between Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu in Singapore.
The two are attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s main security summit, this weekend, where they appeared together briefly, but without any indication that they will hold substantive talks.
Kirby said that Washington is “willing to speak with both Russia and China without preconditions” but “that doesn’t mean without accountability”.
“China has not been transparent; they’ve not been willing to talk, they’ve not been willing to share, they’ve not been willing to join any sort of multilateral arrangement …” he said.
Top US spy secretly visited China – FT
"US President Joe Biden dispatched CIA Director William Burns to Beijing last month to meet with Chinese intelligence officials, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing anonymous American sources.
The outlet described Burns as “one of [Biden’s] most trusted officials” and claimed the visit showed “how concerned the White House had become about deteriorating relations between Beijing and Washington.”
While neither the White House nor the CIA have officially confirmed the visit, the FT relied on “five people familiar with the situation.” One of them, identified only as a US official, said that Burns “met with Chinese counterparts and emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communications in intelligence channels.”
It was not clear whether Burns traveled to Beijing before or after the May 10 meeting between Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and China’s highest-ranking diplomat, Wang Yi, in Vienna. The White House announced the meeting only after it had ended.
However, the FT specified that the CIA director visited China before the May 19 G7 summit in Hiroshima, at which Biden made a cryptic comment about expecting an immediate “thaw” in Sino-US relations.
As of last week, there were no signs of such, at least in the military sphere. The Pentagon complained on May 25 that China was not responding to the US military’s overtures. Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu refused to meet with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin at the Shangri-La Dialogue conference in Singapore last weekend. The US had sanctioned Li in 2018 for his involvement in buying weapons systems from Russia.
Burns is a former diplomat who spent three years as the US ambassador to Russia (2005-2008) and deputy secretary of state before retiring in 2014. Biden appointed him CIA director in 2021. He has a history of secret missions on Biden’s behalf, going to Moscow in November 2021 and Kiev in January 2022, just before the Ukraine conflict escalated.
In April, he admitted the CIA was “blindsided” by the Chinese-mediated deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia."
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