Nicholas Burns is Ambassador of the United States of America to the People’s Republic of China. His Excellency Ambassador Nicholas Burns first visited China in 1988 accompanying Secretary of State George Shultz and then President George H.W. Bush in 1989. He also made visits to China with Secretaries Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright as Spokesperson, including during the Hong Kong handover in 1997. He has had a long career in American diplomacy serving six Presidents and nine Secretaries of State. Most recently, he was a member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Board of Secretary of State John Kerry (2014-2017). As Ambassador to NATO (2001-2005), he led U.S. efforts in Brussels on 9/11 when the Alliance invoked Article 5 of the NATO Treaty for the first time in its history. He worked on the National Security Council at the White House (1990-1995) where he was Special Assistant to President Clinton and Senior Director for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia Affairs and Director for Soviet Affairs for President George H.W. Bush during the collapse of the USSR. He is currently on public service leave from the Harvard Kennedy School where he founded the Future of Diplomacy Project.