CIA Director William Burns took secret trip to China in May: Reports

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - CIA Director William Burns took a previously undisclosed trip to China last month to meet with leaders there amid an ongoing push to improve US-Sino relations, according to multiple reports published Friday.

The trip was Burns' first since he took the job over two years ago. It was first reported by the Financial Times newspaper.

The visit coincides with a mutual effort between Beijing and Washington to improve ties after already dour relations further deteriorated after the discovery of a Chinese aircraft over the continental US that the Biden administration maintains was a spy balloon.

China claimed the aircraft as its own, but said it was a weather balloon that had been blown off course. The shootdown led Beijing to sever most military and intelligence coordination with Washington.

"Last month, Director Burns traveled to Beijing where he met with Chinese counterparts and emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in intelligence channels,” an anonymous official told multiple news outlets. Burns' schedule remains classified.

It comes in addition to a two-day meeting between National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Wang Yi, China's top official for foreign affairs, which also took place in May.

Addressing reporters during last month's G7 summit in Japan, US President Joe Biden anticipated a "thaw very soon" with China, and earlier said he expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping again.

"Whether it is soon or not, we will be meeting," he said before departing for the G7.