Listen to the audio version of the article
Current geopolitics need “Nixonian flexibility” to defuse conflicts between the US and China and between Russia and Europe. Without Washington putting too much pressure on Beijing. In an interview with Bloomberg, Henry Kissinger, former US Secretary of State and adviser to President Richard Nixon, expressed all his doubts about an overly invasive approach to the Chinese opponent’s policies. On the one hand, Kissinger emphasizes that China must not become a “global hegemony.” On the other hand, he reiterated that Biden must avoid overlapping US domestic policy with “the importance of understanding China’s resilience.” In other words, “It is important to prevent the hegemony of China or any other country – he said – but that is not something that can be achieved with an endless struggle”.
US-China conflict, a «disaster comparable to the First World War
Kissinger, 99, has already urged the White House to adopt a less confrontational strategy towards Beijing, arguing that an escalation in tensions between the two giants could lead to a “disaster comparable to World War I”. The example cited is that of Nixon, the US President, who waged a bitter struggle against Communism in the 1960s, only to decide in 1972 to meet Mao Zedong and visit Beijing,” an escalation that the relations between Washington and Beijing could finally accelerate.
Timing doesn’t help. The US diplomat’s warning came days before US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which Beijing condemned as a “serious provocation”. Pelosi stressed that the visit was to reaffirm the White House’s support for Taiwan’s “vibrant democracy” and to defend its interests from threats of interference from Beijing. China responded by accusing the US of “treason” and violating its political sovereignty. Kissinger had previously stated that he “did not foresee” a direct Chinese invasion of the island, although he thought it likely Beijing would weaken or otherwise weaken the island, which it has claimed as its territorial property for more than two decades would try to weaken. The US goal should remain to avoid a frontal confrontation with China and to keep the confrontation more diplomatic.
