A former U.S. ambassador has suggested that U.S. efforts to counter China have prompted the Chinese government to build up BRICS, the group of rising powers that is challenging the U.S.-led world order and drawing heavy criticism from Donald Trump.
Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum last month, former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns, who now co-chairs the Aspen Strategy Group, said that Chinese officials have pushed to enlarge BRICS because they feel threatened by U.S. military alliances and NATO’s growing role in the Indo-Pacific.
“I think they were threatened,” Burns said, referring to the thinking of Chinese leaders. “I felt it in my bones as I talked to them over the last couple of years.”
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