Kissinger, who turned 100 this year, played a key role in the US rapprochement with China while serving as national security adviser under the Nixon administration. His trip to the Chinese capital comes following a period of immense friction between the United States and China, and as the US government has undertaken efforts in recent months to stabilize the relationship between the world’s two biggest economies. Multiple senior administration officials have traveled to China in the past month. Kissinger, who turned 100 this year, played a key role in the US rapprochement with China while serving as national security adviser under the Nixon administration. His trip to the Chinese capital comes following a period of immense friction between the United States and China, and as the US government has undertaken efforts in recent months to stabilize the relationship between the world’s two biggest economies. Multiple senior administration officials have traveled to China in the past month. The Chinese government has rebuffed US efforts to engage in high-level military to military communications. They rejected a meeting between Li and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Shangri-La Dialogue earlier this year, although the two officials did speak briefly at the summit in Singapore. According to the Chinese readout, Kissinger said he was in Beijing “as a friend of China,” and that “the United States and China should eliminate misunderstandings, coexist peacefully, and avoid confrontation.” “History and practice have repeatedly proved that neither the US nor China can afford to treat the other as an adversary,” the centenarian said, according to the Chinese readout. Li told Kissinger that “some people in the United States did not meet China halfway, causing China-US relations to hover at the lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations,” according to the readout. He urged the US to make the “correct strategic judgment” and said he hoped Beijing and Washington could still work together to promote “healthy and stable development” of the relationship between the countries and their militaries. Wang, during his meeting with Kissinger, relayed a message that reflects Beijing’s concerns over American policy toward it: “Trying to transform China is impossible, and blocking and containing China is even more impossible,” he said, according to China’s readout. The Chinese diplomat also appeared wistful for the tenor of earlier relations, telling US policy toward China brought up the visit when Blinken having dinner Kissinger, who turned 100 this year, played a key role in the US rement with China after months of tension but US officials say former Secretary of State Henry Former US Secretary Secretary Of State Henry Kissingeton metChina’s top diplomatinBeijing on Wednesdayfollowimg meetingswith China’’s US sanctioned defense ministerLiShangfu
Henry Kissinger met with China’s top diplomat and sanctioned defense minister in Beijing on Thursday, a day after the U.S. imposed sanctions on the two officials for their role in the disputed South China Sea.
