Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China, revealed concerns over the impact of tense relations between the U.S. and China, calling the East Asia country the “most important,” yet “most dangerous relationship” the U.S. has.
Burns, speaking with CBS News’s “60 Minutes,” said he is nervous for the U.S.’s relationship with China as ongoing tensions and mistrust continue to disrupt the confidence of the business world.
Asked if it is the U.S.’s most competitive relationship, Burns said, “This is the most important, most competitive, and most dangerous relationship that the United States has in the world right now and will, I think, for the next decade or so.”
Burns said the two countries must “live together,” and argued this point is the greatest area of tension between the two nations.
“China’s our most significant competitor, and at the same time, China is our third largest trade partner — 750,000 American jobs at stake. Agriculture — China’s the largest market for U.S. agriculture — one-fifth of all of our export…products from agriculture are sent to China. That was $40.9 billion last year,” he said.
