President Joe Biden’s nominee to serve as the US ambassador to China strongly criticised Beijing during his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, highlighting Washington's continued tough line on its Pacific rival.
During his opening testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Nicholas Burns, a career diplomat who has served in high-profile positions across Democratic and Republican administrations, described China as an “aggressor”.
Mr Burns, however, called for diplomacy to temper the ever-increasing tension between the US and China.
“Beijing has been an aggressor against India along their Himalayan border, against Vietnam, the Philippines and others in the South China Sea, against Japan in the East China Sea,” Mr Burns said.
“And Beijing has launched an intimidation campaign against Australia and even more recently Lithuania.”
He also said Beijing must stop its clampdown in Hong Kong and its “bullying of Taiwan".
China has flown an unprecedented number of military flights near Taiwan in recent weeks. Beijing also suspended direct rail freight to Lithuania in August after the Baltic country opened a Taiwanese Representative Office in Vilnius.
“The Biden administration as well is surely right to seek effective channels of communication with Beijing to manage this competition responsibility, to mitigate the risks of accidental conflict and above all to maintain the peace,” Mr Burns said.
“The United States has to proceed from a position of strength and pursue intense diplomacy in all these matters.”
Mr Burns’s rhetoric on Beijing satisfied Democrats and Republicans alike during his hearing, mirroring the current appetite in Washington for policies that are tough on China.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday also advanced a China sanctions bill, which would place sanctions on senior Chinese officials involved in Beijing’s military activities in disputed areas of the South China Sea.
The sanctions would also extend to officials implicated in Chinese military actions in the East China Sea “administered by Japan or the Republic of Korea".
The widespread praise Mr Burns received from both parties on the committee suggests that he will face little opposition and an easy confirmation vote in the Senate to assume the ambassadorship.
Mr Burns began his foreign service career at the US embassy in Egypt and then the consulate in Jerusalem in the 1980s.
He served as the director for Soviet affairs under former president George HW Bush and then as former president Bill Clinton’s adviser on Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia affairs.
After serving as the US ambassador to Greece, Mr Burns became the US permanent representative to Nato, where he sold the alliance on the US invasion of Iraq before becoming under secretary of state for political affairs.
Mr Burns left the State Department in 2008 and became a professor of international politics at Harvard’s John F Kennedy School of Government while taking on several outside consulting roles.
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Fixtures
Friday, April 12, Malaysia v UAE
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Monday, April 15, UAE v Kuwait
Tuesday, April 16, UAE v Singapore
Thursday, April 18, UAE v Oman
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Aryan Lakra (captain), Aaron Benjamin, Akasha Mohammed, Alishan Sharafu, Anand Kumar, Ansh Tandon, Ashwanth Valthapa, Karthik Meiyappan, Mohammed Faraazuddin, Rishab Mukherjee, Niel Lobo, Osama Hassan, Vritya Aravind, Wasi Shah
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
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Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
