With such arrogance, Burns will suffer setbacks in China: Global Times editorial

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Nicholas Burns, the new US ambassador to China nominated by US President Joe Biden, claimed China is "the biggest geopolitical test of the 21st century" during a US Senate hearing on Wednesday. He has also made an all-round fierce attack against China's domestic and foreign policies. What he has said must be the toughest and most arrogant confirmation hearing statement an incoming US ambassador has made before coming to China.

Burns almost repeated Washington's accusations against China over the past nine months, such as labeling China's policies in Xinjiang as "genocide," smearing China's Hong Kong policy and declaring that the US "cannot trust China." He said Beijing had been "stonewalling" the world about the origins of the COVID-19. He also said the US should increase arms sales to the island of Taiwan and make Taiwan "a tough nut to crack."

Burns declared that China has "very few friends." He called on the US not to overestimate China's strength and underestimate US strength, saying that "we should have confidence in our own strengths."

Such a systematic attack on China is not what an incoming US ambassador should do under normal circumstances. Burns' statement demonstrated the US political elites' overall hostility toward China. The message of the hearing was: One needs to be this tough to be the US ambassador to China today.

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