Cooperate with China or World War 3: Kissinger

by Gordon G. Chang, GATESTONE INSTITUTE  •  November 23, 2020

  • [I]n a little over 14 minutes Kissinger managed to totally misinterpret Chinese history, support Beijing’s most important foreign policy goal, and give deeply misguided advice to Joe Biden. Kissinger has evidently learned nothing from years of dangerous Chinese behavior, which is partly the result of his policy formulations.
  • China’s troubled past, in short, is an excuse. What, after all, is it in history that justifies present-day Chinese aggression against India, Bhutan and Nepal, or its designs on Tajikistan, the Philippines and Malaysia? Moreover, what justification is there for the Communist Party’s declaration of a “people’s war” on the United States in May of last year?

  • Xi Jinping, the one man in China’s system, is now propagating the audacious concept of tianxia, that “all under heaven” owe allegiance to Beijing.
  • There are, unfortunately, some points in history when dialogue makes matters worse because hardline leaders perceive others’ desire to talk as a sign of weakness.
  • What is the best indication that Kissinger is wrong? Beijing at the moment is waging a concerted propaganda campaign to push his views as widely as possible. When your enemy wants you to do something, it is almost always not in your interest.

“I would think we need first of all a dialogue with the Chinese leadership in which we are defining what we’re attempting to prevent and in which the two leaders agree that whatever other conflicts they have they will not resort to military conflict,” Henry Kissinger told Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait on November 16 at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum. “Unless there is some basis for some cooperative action, the world will slide into a catastrophe comparable to World War I.”

Of course no one wants war of any type with China, but in a little over 14 minutes Kissinger managed to totally misinterpret Chinese history, support Beijing’s most important foreign policy goal, and give deeply misguided advice to Joe Biden. Kissinger has evidently learned nothing from years of dangerous Chinese behavior, which is partly the result of his policy formulations.

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November 23, 2020 | 6 Comments »

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  1. When was this self-styled Metternich ever right about anything? His idea of pragmatic realism has backfired every time. Amazing anybody still consults him about anything. Ironic that only Democrats take him seriously now.

  2. @ Adam Dalgliesh:
    Suggestion for whatever reason you lose lots of posts. I suggested you write your posts first in Word or a similar program. Save it and then copy and paste it to israpundit so you do not have all this grief. Friendly suggestion.

  3. Kissinger is simply wrong that the United States has” a history of relatively uninterrupted success”, and therefore cannot understand China’s “insecurity” caused by its “repeated crises>” Has Kissinger ever heard of the capture and burning of our national capitol during the War of 1812? The Civil War? Te German terrorist campaign against the United States of 1914-17, in which hundreds of Americans were killed or wounded, and the Capitol bombed? THe Great Depression? Pearl Harbor? Soviet missiles carrying nuclear that could reach the United States in thirty minutes, or if Khruschev’s and Castro’s missile ploy in 1962 had succeeded, only thirty seconds? The Cuban missile crisis that resulted from this attempted gambit? The 9-11 attack? The recent modernization of Russia’s missile systems? The vast expansion and modernization of all branches of China’s current armed forces, including its nuclear and long-range missilt capabilities? Does Kissinger really believe that these events haven’t made Americans just as insecure and worried about their national security as the Chinese?

  4. Ted, again, why have you deleted my tweet about Kissinger! I think it will be of interest to some Israpundit readers. PLease post it, or explain to me why you have declined to post it. You j=have my e-mail address if you want to communicate privately

  5. Ted, what happened to the post I entered in this comment section. I took a lot of time writing it. Please fish it out of whatever electronic garbage can it went into and replace it.

    It describes all of the “external threats” the U.S. has faced since 1 776, and that Kissinger now denies.