"Biden Likely to Nominate Burns as Ambassador to China and Emanuel as Ambassador to Japan"

President Joe Biden of the United States
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The Biden administration's major ambassadorial lineup is gradually taking shape.

The New York Times reported on the 26th (local time) that President Biden plans to appoint former Deputy Secretary of State Nicholas Burns as the first ambassador to China, and former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan.

Burns, currently a professor at Harvard Kennedy School, is regarded as a veteran diplomat who served as State Department spokesperson, ambassador to Greece, ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and Deputy Secretary of State from 2005 to 2008 under the George W. Bush administration.

In a situation where relations with China are considered a key diplomatic task since President Biden took office, choosing the experienced diplomat Burns as ambassador to China appears to be a strategy to manage U.S.-China relations through his extensive experience.

Following that, Rahm Emanuel, who served as the first Chief of Staff under former President Barack Obama and built a close relationship with then Vice President Biden, is reportedly selected as ambassador to Japan. Placing a heavyweight politician in the important East Asian post of ambassador to Japan is analyzed as an attempt to coordinate overall behind-the-scenes diplomacy.

The New York Times also anticipated that Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles, will be appointed ambassador to India, and Thomas Nides, vice chairman of Morgan Stanley, as ambassador to Israel. Nides is a former diplomat who served as Deputy Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

Cindy McCain [Photo by AP Yonhap News]

The New York Times further projected that Cindy McCain, widow of the late Republican Senator John McCain, will be appointed as ambassador to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), and former Romanian ambassador Mark Gitenstein as ambassador to the European Union (EU).

Cindy McCain publicly supported Democratic President Biden, not Republican candidate former President Donald Trump, in last year's presidential election, helping secure a victory in Arizona. It was the first time in 14 years since former President Bill Clinton in 1996 that a Democratic candidate won in the strongly Republican-leaning state of Arizona. If Cindy McCain is nominated, she is expected to become the first Republican nominee for a senior position requiring Senate confirmation in the Biden administration.