Veteran US diplomat Henry Kissinger who met with his Chinese counterpart, Defence Minister Li Shangfu, in Beijing on Tuesday said that the “friendly communication” between China and the US was destroyed due to “some people in the United States who did not meet China halfway”.
Kissinger, according to a readout published by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that he was a “friend of China” adding that the two nations cannot afford to treat each other as an adversary.
His remarks came days after US President Joe Biden stated that US-China were, in fact, on the “right trail” as Blinken visited Beijing last month, where he met with the Chinese President Xi Jinping, Director of the CCP Central Foreign Affairs Office Wang Yi, and State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Kissinger, during his visit, however, stated that 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.”
‘United States and China should eliminate misunderstandings’: Kissinger
The 100-year-old former US secretary of state made Beijing trip as the US climate envoy, John Kerry, is in the country to meet with the Chinese officials. The two counterparts will hold a discussion about bolstering cooperation with respect to climate change. Kissinger’s not-so-publicised visit comes exactly after 52 years. He last visited China in July 1971 to normalise the ties between the two geopolitical rivals during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
The United States and China should eliminate misunderstandings, coexist peacefully and avoid confrontation. History and practice have continually proved that neither the United States nor China can afford to treat the other as an adversary,” Kissinger said in Beijing.
China’s Defence Minister Li Shangfu stated that China was committed to building stable, predictable and constructive relations with the US, and enhancing the ties between the two countries’ militaries. The high-level defence dialogue between China and the United States had been stalled due to the latter’s deployments in East Asia, which China has been critical of. “We have always been committed to building stable, predictable and constructive Sino-US relations, and we hope that the U.S. will work with China to implement the consensus of the heads of State of the two countries and jointly promote the healthy and stable development of the relationship between the two militaries,” a statement from China’s Defence Ministry read on Tuesday.