CIA Director William Burns made a secret visit last month to Beijing, where he met with Chinese intelligence officials, according to a US official, a visit that comes as the Biden administration tries to stabilize relations with its main geopolitical rival.
During the trip, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in intelligence channels between Washington and Beijing, said the official, who asked not to be identified confirming the trip.
Burns’ trip, which was reported earlier by the Financial Times, comes as the Biden administration attempts to reset bilateral ties that frayed over issues from the status of Taiwan to the alleged Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by a US Air Force jet in February.
The recent outreach has brought mixed success. Last month, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with China’s most senior foreign policy official, Wang Yi, while US trade representative Katherine Tai met a week ago with the Chinese Commerce Minister, Wang Wentao.
Overtures to Chinese military leaders have been less successful.
Beijing rejected Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s request to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu, while the two men are at a security conference in Singapore, in part because Li was sanctioned in 2018 by the US government for overseeing a Russian arms purchase before he took over his current position.
Austin and Li shook hands and exchanged words briefly as the annual Shangri-La Dialogue opened in Singapore Friday. They were seated at the same table for the event. A senior US defense official said the handshake was good, but no substitute for sitting down and having a meaningful exchange.
Read more: Shangri-La Latest: Austin, China’s Li Briefly Shake Hands
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who postponed a long-planned trip to Beijing as the balloon controversy unfolded, has still not announced any rescheduled travel to China.
Burns, a diplomat before becoming the US spy chief, has gone on other sensitive missions for the Biden administration. He traveled to Moscow before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in an unsuccessful attempt to talk President Vladimir Putin’s government out of attacking.