Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away at his home in Connecticut on the 29th (local time) at the age of 100. Reuters Yonhap News
“We often had strong disagreements.” (U.S. President Joe Biden) “He was a long-time friend and good friend of the Chinese people.” (Chinese President Xi Jinping) Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on the 30th of last month (local time) When the minister died, President Biden and President Xi, the top leaders of the United States and China, each sent condolences. Although both men’s condolences contained condolences for the death of a major figure in American diplomacy who led the thaw of US-China relations, the nuances were quite different. President Xi called Kissinger “an old friend and a good friend,” and said, “The Chinese people will forever remember and miss him.” The rave reviews continued. President Xi said, “Kissinger has made it his life’s work to promote the development of China-US relations and promote friendship between the peoples of the two countries.” He added, “With his outstanding strategic insight half a century ago, he made a historic contribution to the normalization of China-US relations, bringing happiness to both countries.” and changed the world,” he said. He also said, “Kissinger’s name will be forever linked with China-US relations,” and “China will work with the United States to inherit the cause of friendship between the China-US people and promote the healthy and stable development of China-US relations.” . President Biden expressed deep condolences to Kissinger’s family, but kept a ‘callous distance’ from his achievements. President Biden said, “I will never forget the first time I met Dr. Kissinger. “His fierce intellect and profound strategic focus were evident,” he said. “Over the course of our careers, we often disagreed. “It was often strongly (inconsistent).” The sharp divergence between the U.S. and Chinese leaders’ evaluations of Kissinger’s diplomatic legacy does not appear to be unrelated to the reality the two countries are currently facing. China entered the world stage through the active ‘recommendation’ and ‘invitation’ of Kissinger, who served as National Security Advisor and Secretary of State in the US White House from 1969 to 1977, when the Cold War was in full swing. China entered the global capitalist market in earnest through improved relations with the United States at this time. The United States also succeeded in isolating the Soviet Union through reconciliation between the United States and China, achieving a major diplomatic achievement of ‘victory in the Cold War’ in 1991. However, Kissinger has been criticized for judging China too positively, leading to the threat of ‘China’s rise’. Under Kissinger’s diplomatic legacy, the United States has maintained a ‘policy of engagement’ with China since the 1970s. However, as China entered the 2010s, rather than becoming a responsible member of the international order created by the United States, China dreamed of its own ‘Chinese Dream’ and sought to change the status quo that the United States had maintained for 70 years after the war in areas such as the East and South China Seas. Try it. It also rose to become the world’s second-largest economy, giving Americans fear that their hegemony could be threatened. Ultimately, in 2017, the first year of the Donald Trump administration, the United States ended its policy of engagement and accepted China as a ‘challenge.’ President Biden, who succeeded him, has also repeatedly emphasized the view that humanity is currently at an ‘inflection point’ between democracy led by the United States and authoritarianism represented by China, and has pursued a ‘policy of siege’ to discourage China’s challenge. In that sense, he was mentioning that he did not agree with and clashed with Kissinger’s strategic judgment 40 years ago when he brought China to the world stage. Even after his retirement, Kissinger visited China about 100 times and until recently called for dialogue between the United States and China. Every time he came, China welcomed him as a ‘special guest’ and used him as a channel to convey their message. Kissinger visited Beijing last July to celebrate his 100th birthday and had a private meeting with President Xi at the Diaoyutai State Guest House in Beijing. At this event, President Xi said, “52 years ago, Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai, President Nixon, and you made the correct choice to cooperate with China and the United States with excellent strategic insight,” and “opened the process of normalizing China-US relations, making both countries happy.” “It also changed the world,” he said. Beijing/Choi Hyun-june Correspondent haojune@hani.co.kr
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2023-12-01 07:57:53
