Former U.S. ambassador to China discusses the relationship between the two countries

NPR's A Martinez speaks to Nicholas Burns, former U.S. ambassador to China, about the current state of relations between the U.S. and China.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

When President Trump increased tariffs on Chinese goods last April, China's President Xi Jinping retaliated with tariffs on U.S.exports. Now, at one point, tariffs put in place by both sides were more than 100%. Then in October, Trump agreed to reduce some of those import taxes. In return, China postponed export restrictions on its critical rare earth minerals. But relations between the U.S. and China are still unpredictable, and tensions are simmering over the U.S. selling weapons to the self-governing island of Taiwan. I asked former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, about that.

NICHOLAS BURNS: Taiwan is the most consequential issue in the relationship. Just this week, the Chinese launched massive military exercises encircling the island of Taiwan. And the Chinese even said publicly this was a direct warning to the United States and Japan because of our support - rightfully - of Taiwan. And so it's going to be very important that President Trump continue to commit to arms sales to Taiwan. He just announced an $11 billion sale, which is very important. And he also is going to have to commit to support Japan and the Philippines publicly because they're both important for Taiwan scenarios. And China is trying to intimidate both of them.

MARTÍNEZ: You called Taiwan the most consequential issue in 2026 between the U.S. and China. Is it more in terms of freedom or is it more in terms of economic possibilities?

BURNS: I think it's both. Certainly, Taiwan is an island democracy, a society that works. It deserves to live in peace. So it's going to be very important that President Trump continue to support Taiwan in that way and to put the onus on Beijing for being the country that's disturbing the peace by its bellicose threats against Taiwan and, as I said, to be faithful to our allies. And I think this gets to an important point about President Trump and his foreign policy, both vis-a-vis China and the rest of the world. Unfortunately, President Trump has been dismissive of many of our allies. And I certainly found as ambassador to China that when we were working with Japan and the European Union and the Philippines and Australia and India, our strategic partner, we could limit China.

But President Trump has put 50% tariffs on India. He's not been very publicly supportive of Japan. He's made the European Union - in an extraordinary way, you know, he's been more critical of them than any other country in the world. And so my view is that's the course correction the Trump administration needs to make in 2026 to have an alliance-based strategy because that's what China fears most.

MARTÍNEZ: It has felt like there is a tech cold war between the United States and China. Is that real, and how intense is the competition between the two?

BURNS: You know, I think it's the centerpiece in the relationship right now. There is an historic competition underway between the United States and China for which country will be most powerful in artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, cyber or space-based weapons. And I do think President Trump has been right to give a lot of support to our tech firms. That's necessary because you can bet that China and Xi Jinping are doing the same thing. And I think there are two things in 2026 that President Trump should do to strengthen the United States in this technology war. First, he needs to get back to funding our major research universities because that's where the ideas are incubated that the private sector uses in all these technologies.

And second, while we want to support - and he's right to support - the tech firms, President Trump recently permitted Nvidia, one of our major firms, to sell the H200 chip to China. That ran against the consensus in both the Republican and Democratic parties that we ought to be withholding our most advanced technologies into the Chinese market because we certainly don't want to have the People's Liberation Army have access to our most powerful technologies because they'll simply use those to compete against our military for long-term advantage in the Indo-Pacific.

MARTÍNEZ: When it comes to tariffs, how likely is it that the tariff truce may fall apart in 2026?

BURNS: Well, there is a truce, and I think the important event will be in April this year when President Trump travels to Beijing for a summit meeting with President Xi Jinping. It appears now that President Trump wants to maintain the trade truce. He's pulled back in criticizing China on other issues - I think to ensure he's going to have a successful meeting in April. But this is a critical competition because the Chinese believe, unfortunately, they got the better of President Trump in 2025. You'll remember way back in April when President Trump began his tariff campaign against China - he felt he could intimidate the Chinese. The Chinese withheld rare earths from the U.S. market, and that forced President Trump to compromise and to agree to this truce. And so I think the Chinese feel a little bit arrogant right now that they've got the better of the United States. That's not a good position for our president to be in.

MARTÍNEZ: That is Nicholas Burns. He was U.S. ambassador to China during the Biden administration. Ambassador, thank you.

BURNS: Thanks so much.

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