In this file photo taken on August 18, 2009 International Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School, Nicholas Burns gestures as he talks during a meeting at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) headquarters in New Delhi. - President Joe Biden on Friday nominated career diplomat Nicholas Burns as ambassador to China and former Chicago mayor and Democratic party heavyweight Rahm Emanuel to head the embassy in Japan. The White House also announced Biden had tapped another experienced diplomat, Michael Battle, for ambassador in Tanzania. The ambassador posts require confirmation in the almost evenly divided Senate. - AFP
WASHINGTON, Aug 21 (Reuters): President Joe Biden plans to nominate veteran US diplomat Nicholas Burns to serve as US ambassador to China, the White House said on Friday (Aug 21), signaling the administration may be looking for the envoy to play a more central role in the increasingly fractious relations between the two global rivals.
The choice of Burns, a retired career foreign service officer who served as under secretary of state between 2005 and 2008, marks a shift for the role of the ambassador to Beijing, the ranks of which over the past decade have been filled by former politicians, not seasoned diplomats.
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