- By Tessa Wong
- Asia Digital Reporter, BBC News
Mr Xi smiled and spoke with affection as he addressed Mr Kissinger on Thursday
Chinese president Xi Jinping has given a heat welcome to former high diplomat Henry Kissinger, as the US pursues nearer ties with China.
Mr Kissinger’s shock journey to the Chinese capital comes amid a flurry of visits by high US officers.
The former secretary of state, who’s 100 years outdated, performed an important function in serving to China emerge from diplomatic isolation within the 1970s.
The US has confused he’s visiting in his capability as a non-public citizen.
But given his outsized stature in China, he may act as a backchannel for US-China negotiations.
State tv confirmed Mr Xi smiling as he advised Mr Kissinger: “I’m very glad to see you, sir.”
They met on the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, a extra intimate house than the sprawling Great Hall of the People the place official conferences with overseas diplomats are often hosted.
Diaoyutai was additionally the place the place, half a century in the past, Mr Kissinger met Chinese officers in a secret go to that helped to kick-start the normalisation of US-China ties, famous Mr Xi.
“We will never forget our old friends, and will not forget your historical contributions to develop US-China relations and friendship between the two peoples,” he added.
Mr Xi’s affectionate tone mirrored the conciliatory messaging from different high officers who met Mr Kissinger after he touched down on Monday.
Chinese statements on his conferences with high diplomat Wang Yi and defence minister Li Shangfu emphasised the necessity for respect, co-operation and “peaceful co-existence” between the 2 superpowers.
The read-outs additionally quoted Mr Kissinger as saying he was a “friend of China”, that “neither the United States nor China can afford to treat the other as an adversary”, and that their relations could be “central to the peace in the world and to the progress of our society”.
Chinese state media have solid Mr Kissinger’s go to in a constructive gentle, whereas on social media many marvelled at Mr Kissinger’s stamina, discussing his journey with the Weibo hashtag “Kissinger can still fly to Beijing for a business trip despite being 100 years old”.
But some on-line additionally lamented that the US was sending centenarians to promote ties. “Politicians with great wisdom are getting fewer,” stated one consumer.
‘US wants Kissinger’s diplomatic knowledge’
A State Department spokesman earlier this week stated that they have been conscious of Mr Kissinger’s journey and “would not be surprised” if he determined to transient them upon his return.
But in addition they confused he was there “under his own volition” and never performing on behalf of the US authorities.
As a non-public citizen, Mr Kissinger may be extra frank in his discussions with Mr Xi and different officers, affording him extra leeway in presenting US considerations and calls for.
It can also be much less controversial for him to meet figures such as Mr Li, who has been below US sanctions since 2018 for buying arms from Russia. Last month Beijing refused to let Mr Li meet his US counterpart Lloyd Austin at a discussion board in Singapore, citing the sanctions.
It could also be of little shock that Mr Kissinger determined to take issues into his personal arms together with his go to.
In an interview in December, Mr Kissinger had criticised the Trump and Biden administrations’ approaches to China. He stated the present US authorities was trying a dialogue that “usually begins with a statement of Chinese iniquities” and that discussions have been “stymied”.
While Mr Kissinger is not any stranger to China – he has visited it greater than 100 instances and final met Mr Xi in 2019 – this journey comes at a turning level within the US-China relationship.
After months of hostility exacerbated by this 12 months’s spy balloon incident, diplomatic negotiations seem to be again on monitor with China welcoming a sequence of high US officers within the house of some weeks.
Apart from Secretary of State Antony Blinken who visited final month, Mr Kissinger is the one US determine Mr Xi has met in current weeks – a measure of the respect the veteran diplomat nonetheless instructions in China.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and US particular envoy for local weather John Kerry have additionally paid visits to Beijing, however didn’t get face time with China’s president.
With its overtly heat reception of Mr Kissinger, Beijing has clearly signalled it needs extra engagement from the US, with Mr Wang saying “the US’ China policy needs Kissinger’s diplomatic wisdom and Nixon’s political courage”.
But this won’t change the truth that China will, ultimately, stick to its priorities, stated Wen-ti Sung, a political scientist with the Australian National University.
“Beijing may potentially consider making token gestures of goodwill after Kissinger’s trip both as a thankyou to its friend and boost Kissinger’s standing,” he advised the BBC.
“But do not expect it to meaningfully shift the fundamentals driving US-China relations, which will be governed not by individual considerations, but by what Beijing sees as its own national interests.”
Though Mr Kissinger has a controversial repute in different components of Asia for his function within the Vietnam War, in China he stays extremely regarded for aiding the nation’s re-engagement with the world.
In 1971, whereas the US and China formally had no ties, Mr Kissinger had paid clandestine visits to Beijing to prepare a visit by then-US President Richard Nixon.
The following 12 months Mr Nixon landed on Chinese soil and met high leaders together with Mao Zedong. It paved the best way for the normalisation of US-China diplomatic relations and the opening-up of China’s economic system.
Additional reporting by BBC Monitoring.
