Nicholas Burns testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing on his nomination to be Ambassador to China, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Oct 20, 2021. (MANDEL NGAN / AFP)
WASHINGTON – The US Senate on Thursday confirmed President Joe Biden's nomination of Nicholas Burns as US ambassador to China.
The Senate voted 75-18 to confirm Burns, 65, a career diplomat who has served under both Democratic and Republican presidents.
ALSO READ: Belated nomination of ambassador highlights difficulties of Biden's policy
Burns is currently a professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He is also serving as the executive director of the Aspen Strategy Group and Security Forum and senior counselor at the Cohen Group.
During his State Department career, Burns served as the undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, ambassador to NATO and to Greece, State Department spokesman and on the National Security Council staff on Soviet and Russian Affairs.
READ MORE: US ambassador: Maturity required to regain trust
Burns first went to China in 1988 accompanying Secretary George Shultz and a year later accompanying President George HW Bush. He visited China several times as spokesman with Secretaries Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright.
Burns earned his B.A. degree from Boston College and an M.A. from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.