U.S. engaged in ‘battle of ideas’ with communist China, U.S. ambassador says

The United States is locked in a war of ideas with China, which wants to replace the American model of democracy around the world with its communist system, U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns says.

Ambassador Burns stated in his first in-depth television interview since arriving in Beijing two years ago that U.S. relations with Beijing are the most important, competitive and “dangerous” relationships and will remain so for at least the next decade.

“It’s a competition of ideas, a battle of ideas,” he told CBS’ “60 Minutes.” “Our idea, America’s big idea of a democratic society and human freedom, versus China’s idea that a communist state is stronger than a democracy. We don’t believe that. So there’s a battle here as to whose ideas should lead the world. And we believe those are American ideas.”

The danger is evident in increased Chinese military activities near Taiwan and in the South China Sea, where military tensions remain high. Ambassador Burns said tensions over Chinese island-building in the South China Sea and bullying of U.S. ally Philippines have not eased in recent weeks.

Tensions over Taiwan have remained high since August 2022, when then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the democratically governed island, triggering stepped-up Chinese military flights and warship operations that have continued. China claims Taiwan as its territory.

“We’ve seen, now for 16 months, a much higher rate of Chinese … air activity and naval activity that’s very intimidating, meant to intimidate,” Ambassador Burns said.

Ultimately, the Chinese, with their rapidly expanding military forces, “want to become and overtake the United States as the dominant country globally,” he said. “And we don’t want that to happen. We don’t want to live in a world where the Chinese are the dominant country.”

Unlike the Cold War, when a nuclear-armed Soviet Union had a weak economy, China’s economy is very strong, and its military is becoming powerful.

“We’re dealing with an adversary, a competitor, in China stronger than the Soviet Union was in the 1940s, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s,” the ambassador said.

Ambassador Burns said a recent low point for U.S.-China ties was the February 2023 spy balloon incident, when a motorized Chinese surveillance balloon was tracked across the United States before it was shot down by an Air Force fighter off the East Coast.

Relations appeared to stabilize after President Biden met Chinese President Xi Jinping in California last year, but strategic competition remains.

“Our companies and tech experts are competing on AI and biotech and quantum mathematics,” Ambassador Burns said. “All those technological advances will lead to a new generation of military technology. Our two militaries are vying for military supremacy — who’s going to be the most powerful in the most important, strategic part of the world, which is the Indo-Pacific.”

Ambassador Burns did not immediately respond to an email request for comment on the interview.

Ambassador Burns also said that under Mr. Xi, China is continuing to steal American intellectual property, as authorities launched a security crackdown on U.S. businesses operating in China and detained some employees.

Six or seven U.S. businesses have been targeted since March 2022 in what Ambassador Burns said were “raids” driven by new Chinese security regulations.

“They’ve gone into American companies and shut them down and made accusations we believe are very much unwarranted,” he said.

The companies include the consulting firm Bain & Co. and the due diligence firm Mintz Group, which had five Chinese employees accused of spying. Global research firm Capvision also was raided.

The companies were targeted by Chinese authorities who allege U.S. firms are engaged in espionage and stealing national security and military secrets.

The companies have denied wrongdoing and said their work is standard data collection used by firms considering investments in Chinese companies or forming joint ventures with Chinese partners.

Ambassador Burns said Beijing is seeking to control data on the Chinese people and Chinese companies.

“That I think is at the heart of the problem with those American companies operating in that sphere,” he said, adding that “there is still intellectual property theft from American companies here.”

Still, according to the ambassador, U.S. companies have not begun pulling out of China.

Major U.S. banks are operating in the country, and Walmart has 300 stores in China. Starbucks operates 6,000 stores, and Apple, Tesla, Boeing, Pfizer, Chevron and Intel also have businesses in China.

Some companies, like Apple, have begun moving some of their operations to countries without authoritarian governments. But none have pulled out completely. Several have relocated some businesses from China to Singapore, Vietnam and Mexico.

“If you track China from the death of [Communist Party founder] Mao [Zedong] to the opening of China to the world, we’ve seen a closing of sorts,” Ambassador Burns said of Mr. Xi’s policies. “We’ve seen a centralization of power of the [Chinese Communist] Party. We’ve seen increased repression of the people of China here. That’s a very significant trend just over the last decade.”

China’s economy, however, is facing problems, and for the first time in 40 years more money is leaving China than is being invested by American, Japanese, European and Korean companies, he said.

The ambassador, a career diplomat who has held numerous State Department posts, including press spokesman during the Clinton administration, sought to dispel one of Mr. Xi’s key narratives that China is rising while the West is declining.

“But economically, the U.S. is thriving compared to China,” he said, noting that the credit rating service Moody’s recently rated its outlook for China as “negative.”

“Maybe they’re not leaving, but they’re not investing, they’re not making major investments until they can see exactly where the government is headed,” Ambassador Burns said of foreign companies.

One exception is the Walt Disney Co., which is expanding operations in China.