Kissinger school fades to background as China engagement loses shine

Washington shifts to competition, five years after Obama's Hiroshima trip

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, left, with former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in November 2019. © Reuters

NAOYA YOSHINO, Nikkei political editor

May 27, 2021 05:38 JST

TOKYO -- For decades, Henry Kissinger, the national security adviser to Richard Nixon and the driving force in normalizing ties between Washington and Beijing, has remained one of the most influential figures in U.S. foreign policy.

But as the U.S. shifts from Kissinger's engagement policy to one of strategic competition with China, the statesman's stern warnings on the deterioration of the relationship are going unheeded.