Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu in Beijing on Tuesday, his first known visit to the capital city in four years.
Li said the country hopes to work with the U.S. for a healthy and stable relationship between the two nations and militaries. He added the U.S. should exercise sound strategic judgment of China, according to a readout of the defense ministry. “If history is of any guide, neither the U.S. or China can afford the price of treating each other as enemy,” Kissinger was cited as saying.
The meeting comes as China has frozen high-level military dialogue with the U.S. China has blocked Li talking from his American counterpart over sanctions imposed in 2018. Beijing maintains these curbs prevented a sit down between Li and U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin
The former U.S. official traveled to Beijing in 2019, when President Xi Jinping welcomed him for a sit-down at the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square. The Chinese leader said that he appreciated Kissinger’s “sincere feelings” and efforts to promote the development of ties with the U.S.
Kissinger’s visit comes as Beijing manages diplomatic relations with the Biden administration, and tries to restore confidence among foreign firms deterred by escalating tensions. U.S. Climate envoy John Kerry is also in the Chinese capital this week meeting with top officials in a bid to restart environmental cooperation between the world’s two largest economies.
Kissinger — who was a top U.S. diplomat and national security adviser at the White House in the 1970s — has long been viewed as an “old friend” to China. Xie Feng, China’s ambassador to the U.S., met with Kissinger in May and expressed his best wishes for the former U.S. official’s 100th birthday.
The centenarian is closely watched for his views on Asian geopolitics. His trips to the nation during the Nixon administration were credited with paving the way for the normalization of U.S.-China relations at the time.
In June, Kissinger sounded a downbeat tone on the state of ties between Washington and Beijing, days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to the nation as part of a mission to reset relations. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also visited the Chinese capital this month to help resume dialogue.
Military conflict between China and Taiwan is likely if tensions continue on their current course, Kissinger said in an interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait.
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(With assistance from Jing Li and Xiao Zibang.)
