(b. April 4, 1956) Longtime CFR member3, career diplomat and ambassador recently confirmed as Joe Biden’s CIA chief and who outright lied to the U.S. Senate over his links to the Chinese Communist Party. Burns, who previously served as the President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, worked with CCP influence groups including the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF) during his tenure. The National Pulse revealed how, despite the former think tank director insisting he cut ties with the controversial influence group in his Senate confirmation hearings, the relationship continued through 2021. The Committee on the Present Danger China – a national security group constituted of national security and military veteran – sent a letter that includes over 20 high-level signatories demanding his resignation. Burns is also an advocate for diplomacy with Mullahs regime in Iran.2
The CPDC – whose letter includes over 20 high-level signatories – also highlights how Burns allowed CCP members tied to United Front efforts, which seek to “co-opt and neutralize sources of potential opposition” to the regime’s authority, onto the organization’s Board of Trustees:
Mr. Burns’ testimony is also belied by the fact that in 2016 he welcomed Zhang Yichen to the Carnegie Endowment’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Zhang is the CEO of CITIC Capital Holdings, a 3 subsidiary of CITIC Group, a state-owned investment enterprise. He has given over a million dollars to the Endowment in recent years. He is also tied to not one, but two, Chinese influence operations: the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Center for China and Globalization. The website of a Chinese embassy depicts the CPPCC as a “United Front organization under the leadership of the Communist Party of China” that is “actively engaged in exchanges with foreign countries for the purpose of strengthening the friendship with people in foreign countries.” The Center for China and Globalization is “a Beijing-based think tank also linked to the communist apparatus.”
“Mr. Burn’s record contradicts his testimony about being worried about Chinese influence operations, shows he ignored the risks of partnering with them and bespeaks both a lack of awareness about Chinese tradecraft and judgment that could be serious national security risks at the CIA,” the letter notes before calling for his resignation:
For all these reasons, we urge you to ask immediately for the resignation of William Burns as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.1
