Centenarian Henry Kissinger, one of the best-known American geopolitical strategists of the 20th century and a key player in restoring diplomatic relations between Communist China and the United States in 1979, was received by the People’s Republic’s President this Thursday. Xi Jinping. The meeting exudes symbolism on all four sides: it is taking place as the two major world powers try to restore ties in a comatose state after hitting bare minimum in recent months. “We will never forget our old friend and his historic contribution to promoting the development of Sino-US relations,” President Xi told Kissinger.
During the meeting, the Chinese leader recalled that the former US Secretary of State had just celebrated his 100th anniversary and that he had visited China more than 100 times. “The combination of these two hundred gives special meaning to his visit to China on this occasion,” he confided, according to Beijing’s official reading. Kissinger responded that the link between the two countries was “related to peace and world progress” and promised to “continue efforts to facilitate mutual understanding.”
The meeting was surrounded by an aura of nostalgia. The meeting took place in the same room of the Diaoyutai residence (where official visitors usually stay) where Kissinger secretly met with the communist leaders during his first visit to China in 1971. In the middle of the Cold War, he faced the highly complex task of articulating a rapprochement with the Asian country whose rise, in Washington’s eyes, could act as a counterbalance to the Soviet Union.
During a trip to Pakistan, Kissinger faked an illness and disappeared for a frantic 48 hours. He flew to Beijing to negotiate the architecture for Nixon’s official visit to China with then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong’s right-hand man. , the first of a US presidents since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949. “The confrontation made no sense for either side; That’s why we were in Beijing,” Kissinger writes in the compelling passage devoted to the meeting in his book On China (On China, 2011).
In the interview, Xi recalled the moment when both countries “stood at a crucial turning point” and how Mao, Zhou, Nixon and Kissinger “made the right decision with their extraordinary strategic vision” that “contributed to the benefit of both countries.” . changed the world.” That world, he added, is now at a new crossroads that will require a new decision “by both parties about the way forward.”
These first contacts in the 1970s also forged the so-called policy (for Washington) or principle (for Beijing) of “one China”, the ambiguous verbal and diplomatic balancing act with which relations between the two countries are respectfully maintained to Taiwan. . The self-governing island, which Beijing regards as an inalienable part of its territory, is one of the critical points in the geopolitical struggle between the superpowers, “the core of China’s main interests” and “where the future of the Chinese nation and country lies”. “Mission enduring history of the Communist Party,” the country’s leaders often repeat.
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The visit of the then President of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to this enclave last summer is the origin of the disputes of recent months.
“Under the current circumstances, it is imperative to comply with the principles set out in the Shanghai Communiqué [el primero firmado por Nixon y Mao en 1972, que reconoce la política en torno a Taiwán]”We appreciate the great importance China attaches to the one-China principle and steer relations in a positive direction,” Kissinger told Xi, according to the Beijing-released text.
The meeting with the President comes after two days of high-level meetings between Kissinger and other Chinese leaders. On Tuesday, he met with Defense Minister Li Shangfu, whose inclusion on Washington’s blacklist of people sanctioned (in 2018, before he was appointed minister in 2023) identified him as one of the stumbling blocks in reopening China-China communication channels The United States was broken last summer after the Taiwan Crisis. Both powers “must clear up misunderstandings, coexist peacefully and avoid confrontations,” Kissinger told Li, according to Xinhua.
On Wednesday, the American held a face-to-face meeting with Communist Party diplomacy chief Wang Yi, who acknowledged that he had “played an irreplaceable role in enhancing mutual understanding between the two countries.” His stay partially coincided with that of US special envoy on climate John Kerry, whose visit to Beijing was the third by a senior US official in the last month to halt relations in free fall. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip in mid-June initially succeeded in stabilizing relations, followed by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen two weeks ago.
While not an official visit – Kissinger has been out of office for years – it appears destined to bring the world’s first and second largest economies closer together. The North American has advocated a detente in the struggle between the superpowers in numerous recent interventions. “We are in the classic pre-World War I situation,” he said in a May interview in The Economist, “where neither side has much leeway for political concessions and any upset of the balance can have catastrophic consequences.”
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