Xi Jinping with Henry Kissinger
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Beijing on Thursday.
“On July 20, President Xi Jinping met former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse”, state broadcaster CCTV reported, praising the 100-year-old statesman for his pivotal role in establishing relations between China and the United States in the 1970s.
In July 1971, Kissinger, then US national security advisor, covertly traveled to Beijing on a mission to develop relations with communist China.
That tour laid the groundwork for President Richard Nixon’s historic visit, in which he attempted to both shake up the Cold War and garner assistance in ending America’s war in Vietnam.
Washington’s overtures to an isolated Beijing aided China’s emergence to become a manufacturing powerhouse and the world’s second-largest economy after the United States.
Since leaving office, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Kissinger has amassed a fortune advising businesses in China and has warned against a hardline shift in US policy.
Since 1971, Dr. Kissinger has visited China more than 100 times.
“On May 27, this year, the legendary diplomat celebrated his 100th birthday, and this visit is also his first trip to China since turning 100”, the statement reads.
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