His diplomatic maneuvers may have been important during the Cold War. But he set the stage for accommodation of the CCP’s worst tendencies in the years since.
By: Jianli Yang – Dec 05, 2023
Dr. Henry Kissinger, described by successive CCP leaders as an “old friend of the Chinese people,” passed away on November 29 at the age of 100. He was a figure who could not be ignored by anyone paying attention to Sino–U.S. relations and the world order over the past half century. When I was a young boy, I first heard the title “doctor” (signifying a Ph.D.) in reference to Kissinger in the news reports of the CCP’s official media, which left the impression in my young mind that a “doctor” is a wise and resourceful person. No one denies that Dr. Kissinger was indeed wise and resourceful, but his form of realism devoid of fundamental values was an essential part of his cunning nature.
Upon hearing the news of Kissinger’s death, many major events in U.S.–China relations associated with him flashed through my mind. The most important, of course, was his secret visit to Beijing in July 1971, which broke the ice in the frozen relations between the United States and Communist China. At the time, China was in the throes of the Cultural Revolution, facing economic collapse, and the Sino-Soviet border conflict over the sovereignty of Zhenbao Island put China under direct military pressure from the Soviet Union. In the midst of internal and external difficulties, Mao Zedong turned to the United States for a diplomatic breakthrough. Meanwhile, the United States needed to “lean on China to resist the Soviet Union” and resolve the Vietnam War. In this 17-hour lightning visit, Kissinger pledged that the U.S. would gradually reduce its military presence in Taiwan, would not support “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan,” would not support Taiwan independence, and that the U.S. would support the People’s Republic of China in obtaining seats in the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council. They then issued a joint communiqué, announcing that President Nixon would visit China before May 1972 and meet with CCP leaders, particularly Mao. Without exaggeration, Kissinger helped the CCP overcome internal and external difficulties, thus removing the first obstacles to Red China’s emergence on the international political stage… [Continue Reading]
Source: https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/12/henry-kissingers-mixed-legacy-on-china/