CIA chief goes to China

The CIA director has played a unique role over the years as a secret envoy in all kinds of international crises. It's part of the role's CV. Whenever the president of the United States can get nowhere with normal channels, he calls for the chief spook to get it sorted out. So, in the latest foray by the current CIA director, Bill Burns, a former amvbassador to Washington, there has been a secret trip to Beijing at a time when relations with the Chinese have been worsening by the day. The Pentagon has been trying for weeks to get their counterparts in the defence ministry in Beijing to pick up their phones and have a chat. But all to no avail. Then Lloyd Austin, the US Defence Secretary, went off to Singapore for an annual international conference and tried to fix to speak to his counterpart on the sidelines. But he was snubbed. All he managed in the end was a brief handshake. But meanwhile Burns who looks like a university professor, was dispatched by Joe Biden to have words with top Chinese officials to try and get relations on an even keel. The fact that Beijing agreed to see Burns without any publicity demonstrates how powerful the CIA and its boss are on the world stage. Burns is a veteran diplomat and knows how to charm even the most stubborn of opponents and I have no doubt he did the necessaries in Beijing. His presence there was revealed by the Financial Times. So not so secret after all. But obviously effective, because Biden revealed he thought relations with China were softening a bit.