In China, sentimentality and praise have erupted following the death of controversial former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, despite the dire state of relations between the two nations.
On Weibo, the nation’s social media network, a highly liked comment reads, “You are forever a friend of Chinese people, rest in peace.”
Who is Henry Kissinger?
Mr. Henry Kissinger was one of the most well-known Americans. His name is still spoken in history classes all around the nation, and a lot of people still view him as a kind Western man—something they feel is becoming less and less common.
Engagement with China was one of Mr. Kissinger’s primary legacies over the course of his decades-long career.
He was so certain of the need for interaction between the two nations that he labelled the harsh suppression of the Tiananmen student protests in 1989 as “inevitable”.
He stated in an August 1989 Washington Post article that “its brutality was shocking,” but that “no government in the world would have tolerated having the main square of its capital occupied for eight weeks by tens of thousands of demonstrators.”
In his writing at that time, he stated that “China remains too important for America’s national security to risk the relationship.”
Henry Kissinger has also advocated for a reduction in hostilities between the US and China in recent years. He advocated for it despite China’s rise to the status of the second-biggest economy in the world and the challenge to Mr. Kissinger’s predominantly American influence during much of
As a constant supporter of US engagement and a reminder of that era, he was also warmly received in Beijing.
Even with the strained relations between China and the US, the 99-year-old former diplomat was welcomed by Mr. Xi in Beijing during his most recent visit to China, which he made more than 100 times since retiring.
China’s senior diplomat, Wang Yi, told Mr. Xi that his country would never forget “our old friends” and that the US needs to apply “Kissinger-style diplomatic wisdom” to its China policy.
The White House was irritated by the meeting, which happened only a few weeks after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s crucial trip to China to resume relations. In Beijing, Mr. Kissinger seemed to have easier access.
As a result of measures initiated by Mr. Kissinger, relations between Washington and Beijing may be at their lowest point since the two sides started speaking formally in 1979. Although President Jimmy Carter “normalised” relations, it was President Richard Nixon who, in 1972, made the first historic trip to Beijing to meet with Mao Zedong, ending decades of enmity.
Many saw that trip as a turning point in China’s choice to open up to the West. Henry Kissinger, who controlled US foreign policy throughout some of the most critical years of the Cold War, played a key role in arranging that visit. To set up the meeting, he made a covert trip to Beijing in 1971.
Conclusion
Henry Kissinger was a well-known diplomat. His death is a loss for world.
