Kissinger's spell on China policy fades 50 years after visit

Beijing's rise, helped by US engagement, has driven pivot to rivalry

The 1971 meeting between then-U.S. national security adviser Henry Kissinger, left, and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai put the two countries on a path to rapprochement. © UPI/Kyodo

TSUYOSHI NAGASAWA and TSUKASA HADANO, Nikkei staff writers

July 10, 2021 06:31 JST

WASHINGTON/BEIJING -- In an event marking the 50th anniversary of his trip paving the way for the normalization of U.S.-China diplomatic relations, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger made a case for the engagement policy that Washington had championed for decades.

"Conflict between the United States and China will divide the whole world," he said in a virtual meeting with Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan on Thursday U.S. time. "And attempts to line up nations on one side or the other will create divisions in the world and temptations and pressures that will become increasingly difficult to solve."