Henry Kissinger, 100 years old, has for many years made great efforts to improve US-China relations. He last visited Beijing in July 2023, with positive results. Kissinger was not one of the officials sent by Washington for these talks and the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that Kissinger came as a private citizen. However, Kissinger was warmly welcomed by Chinese President Xi Jinping.[1]
On Wednesday, November 29, 2023, Kissinger passed away and was remembered by Xi Jinping as “an important friend for China and the US relations”. “The Chinese people will never forget their old friends, and Sino-American relations will always be associated with Henry Kissinger’s name,” Xi Jinping said in his condolences to his counterpart Joe Biden and Kissinger’s family.[2]
Kissinger made at least 100 trips to China in the five decades before his death.[3] During this time, he was an influential figure in the development of relations between China and the United States. China’s economic rise and emergence as a global power is a result of the diplomatic steps taken during Kissinger’s time. Today, however, challenges such as increased competition, trade wars and security issues make future relations uncertain. Moreover, Kissinger’s individual influence and legacy have the potential to influence how future generations approach US-China relations.
Richard Nixon took steps to improve relations with China in early 1969. Problems in Sino-Soviet relations were exploited to contain the Cold War rival Soviet Union, creating an effective balancing diplomacy. In the late 1970s, Nixon and Kissinger, who had been appointed as National Security Advisor, first sought ways to communicate with Mao Zedong. Negative factors, such as the US occupation of Cambodia, hampered progress in promoting dialogue. Both sides revived communication in the spring of 1971, when Nixon announced his willingness to visit China. In this context, the two countries’ exchange of table tennis players, the so-called “Ping Pong diplomacy”, was seen as an important step in diplomatic relations.
In 1971, Kissinger was secretly sent to China and had the first meaningful meeting with Zhou, after years of worsening relations over disputes and conflicts in Korea and Vietnam. Kissinger resisted Zhou’s insistence that “Taiwan was part of China”, but nevertheless favored the One China Policy. After these talks, Mao gave the green light for Nixon’s historic visit in 1972.[4]
Nixon’s visit to China was an important milestone in the normalization of bilateral diplomatic relations. In 1979, the two countries established official diplomatic relations and tried to overcome Cold War tensions. During this period, economic cooperation also gained momentum and China began to rise to an influential position in the global economy. After the 1989 Tiananmen Square events, tensions between the two sides increased and some sanctions were imposed by the US. However, by the end of the 1990s, China had become an important part of the world economy and increased its trade volume substantially. In the 2000s, the volume of trade between the US and China increased substantially, affecting the world economy. Disagreements and competition over issues such as security, technology transfer and human rights have been among the factors straining relations.
Today, the competition between the US and China has intensified, especially in the areas of technology, security and global leadership. The Joe Biden administration has continued to pursue a policy that emphasizes competition with China. The US has started to take strict measures against China, especially in the field of technology.
At the APEC Summit held on November 17, 2023, after a contentious and divergent historical process in terms of international norms, the Biden administration stated that its main goal was to improve bilateral relations by reopening the two countries’ military communication channels.[5] The Biden-Xi meeting at the summit marks an important achievement. Both sides agreed to re-establish military communication channels. This aimed to increase transparency and avoid potentially dangerous misunderstandings.
In conclusion, the future course of relations between the US and China is likely to depend on how effective Kissinger’s diplomatic strategies and approaches still are. Whether his legacy is a lesson for future generations remains to be seen. For now, however, Kissinger’s passing represents the bridge between the past, present and future in Sino-US relations.
[1] “Henry Kissinger Was So Revered In China That Xi Jinping Personally Called Him An ‘Old Friend’ While Snubbing Biden Officials”, Business Insider, https://www.businessinsider.com/henry-kissinger-xi-jinping-old-friend-chinese-people-snub-biden-2023-11, (Erişim Tarihi: 01.12.2023).
[2] Aynı yer.
[3] Aynı yer.
[4] “Why China Fondly Remembers Henry Kissinger”, TIME, https://time.com/6340967/china-pays-tribute-to-old-friend-henry-kissinger/, (Erişim Tarihi: 01.12.2023).
[5] “The Big Takeaways From the Biden-Xi APEC Meeting”, Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/16/biden-xi-apec-meeting-talks-dictator-communication-channels-fentanyl-pandas-ai/, (Erişim Tarihi: 01.12.2023).
