Foreign and Military Affairs

Kissinger's pride in 40-year China experiences

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-27 16:08

NEW YORK - When Henry Kissinger first arrived in China in 1971, he had no idea what he would find in this country he had never been. Neither could he prepare for the trip much, because he didn't want other people to know his secret journey.

Four decades later, having visited China for more than 50 times and known four generations of Chinese leaders, Kissinger, sitting in his Manhattan office, said his relationship with China has expanded to the Kissinger family: now his granddaughter wants to study in China.

"China is the country with which I deal most consistently and most deeply, so China has become a very important part of my life, and my Chinese friends mean a great deal to me," Kissinger told Xinhua in an interview on Thursday.

Kissinger made his first and secret visit to China in July 1971 that paved the way for a groundbreaking 1972 summit meeting in Beijing between US President Richard Nixon and Chinese top leader Mao Zedong. The summit eventually led to the normalization of US-China relations.

Kissinger was national security advisor to Nixon in 1971 before he became state secretary. He was a key figure in US foreign policy during the Cold War.

"President Nixon and I decided to attempt to open to China, because we were convinced that you could not have a new world order without the participation of China," he recalled.

Indeed, 40 years later, Kissinger still believed "friendship with China should be one of the key elements of American foreign policy, and getting to know and understand each other better is the key to the relationship."

With the publication of his new book "On China," Kissinger drew on historical records as well as his conversations with Chinese leaders over the past 40 years, to examine how China has approached diplomacy, strategy and negotiation throughout its history, and offer his intimate historical perspective on US-China relations.

"The whole theme of my book is that it is essential for China and the United States to cooperate to build the new international system," he said.

He noted that leaders of both countries have to work together and have to understand the motivations of the other and the sensitivities of the other, as well as developing a common approach to global issues such as the environment, climate change, proliferation, and the nature of the G20, among others.

Kissinger also pointed out that when two great countries like China and the United States interact, especially when both countries are undergoing changes, occasional frictions are inevitable, but the general trend of the US-China relationship has been toward cooperation.

Talking about the rapid development China has made in such a short time, Kissinger contributed China's economic success to Chinese leaders and the Chinese people and lauded it.

"I admire what they have accomplished in the 40 years that I have known them, and I have every confidence that they will add to the greatness to their achievement in the next 40 years," he said.

A tremendous task for China in the next decade, Kissinger said, is how to bring about harmony between the developed regions along China's coast and much less developed regions in the interior, and how to integrate people who are moving from the countryside to the cities.

Another important issue facing China is its essential role in the international system, he added.

China is an integral part of the international system as its economy is growing so rapidly, and its role is so essential, he said.

Kissinger used the examples of international chess and weiqi (go) to further illustrate the strategy in the international system.

"Chess emphasizes total victory; weiqi is aimed at improving the relative position," he said.

"It is usually more helpful for the international system, if countries deal with each other in terms of relative positions, rather than in an attempt to achieve absolute victory or superiority," he said.

Turning 88 years old on May 27, Kissinger, with snowy hair but still sharp mind, recalled his cherished moments with four generations of Chinese leaders.

"They are all remarkable men," Kissinger said. "What has remained in my experience is the friendship and loyalty that Chinese people show to their friends."

"To the people of the world, their hope for prosperity and peace will be furthered by the friendship between the United States and China. So I look at the 40 years with considerable pride," said Kissinger.