'Neither US Nor China Can Afford To Treat Other As Adversary': Henry Kissinger Meets Li Shangfu In Beijing

Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger met Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu in a surprise visit to Beijing and discussed the Sino-US relations.

Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger (Left) and Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu (Left)

Source : Getty Images

Former US diplomat Henry Kissinger met China’s defence minister Li Shangfu in a surprise visit to Beijing, reported The Guardian. According to a readout on Tuesday from the Chinese defence ministry, Kissinger said that neither the US nor China can afford to treat the other as an adversary. He further said that if US and China go to war, ‘it will not lead to any meaningful results for the two peoples’, the statement read. The readout also quoted Kissinger as saying that he was a “friend of China”.

 "China cherishes its friendship with old friends," state news agency Xinhua quoted director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Wang Yi. "China maintains a high degree of continuity in its policy toward the United States and follows the guiding principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation," Wang was quoted as saying. "These three principles are fundamental and long-term, and are the way for China and the United States to get along correctly as two major countries," Xinhua further quoted him as saying.

"Neither the United States nor China can afford to treat the other as an adversary. If the two countries go to war, it will not lead to any meaningful results for the two peoples, " as per the defence ministry readout, the Guardian mentioned. 

The readout mentioned that Li Shangfu said friendly communication between China and the US had been ‘destroyed’ because “some people in the United States did not meet China halfway”. The surprise visit of the 100-year-old former US secretary of state comes when US climate envoy John Kerry is already in Beijing to meet Chinese officials. Kerry’s agenda is to discuss how the two countries can cooperate on confronting the climate crisis, The Guardian mentioned in the report. 

Notably, Kerry’s visit is the latest in a series of trips by senior US officials who have travelled to China this after the US Secretary of state Antony Blinken’s June trip, the report added.  

The two superpowers have been witnessing declining relations for quite some time after which top officials have begun the dialogue to build a healthy consensus on various issues.  

The Guardian mentioned that Kissinger’s visit, which had not been publicised, is outside the official roster of meetings. Interestingly, the visit comes nearly 52 years since his secret visit to Beijing in July 1971. At that time, the trip paved the way for Richard Nixon, the then-US president to normalise relations between the two countries.   

Now after over half a century, Kissinger is still seen by many in Beijing as a “friend of China”, stated The Guardian. Notably, Chinese tabloid The Global Times had in May praised Kissinger’s “razor-sharp” mind, as quoted by The Guardian.  

The report stated that Kissinger has repeatedly warned of ‘catastrophic’ consequences of a conflict between the US and China.  

This comes after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held bilateral meetings with Chinese officials during her four-day visit which she later called “direct” and “productive”. Speaking at a press conference, Yellen said the US and China remained at odds on a number of issues but she expressed confidence that her visit, concluding on Sunday, has advanced U.S. efforts to "put the U.S.-China relationship on surer footing,” reported Reuters. 

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