“Our future depends on (Sino-US) cooperation, and that’s why I am so committed to friendship between our two countries,” Henry Kissinger, former US secretary state, told as many as 1,000 scholars and students this Tuesday at the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of social Sciences.
Kissinger, invited back to China this time by China Sciences and Humanities Forum (CSHF) president Zheng Bijian, gave a special speech on his experiences with the Sino-US relationship. Addressing the CSHF in a keynote speech, Kissinger said the US and China should cooperate to face world challenges.
Recalling Zhou Enlai
Kissinger began his 45-minute speech by recalling his first visit to China and his dialogue with former premier Zhou Enlai.
“The first time I met Zhou, I told him I was in a mysterious country,” Kissinger said. “Buhou replied that no one here – surrounded by 900 million others – felt it was the least mysterious ... Since then, I’ve learned a lot about China and have witnessed sweeping and unexpected change,” he saiDuring his speech, Kissinger, who made his first visit in 1971 in a secret trip that broke a 20-year freeze in relations, couldn’t help but share his amazement at how China has changed. “China has developed in a manner none of us uld have imagined 35 years ago,” he said.Kissinger lauded Sino-US cooperation in the six-party talks, and expressed his confidence in the ability of the two countries to improve bilateral relations.
China’s rise inevitable
Many students in the audience were eager to know what Kissinger thought about China’s rise. “When friends and colleagues in the States talk about the rise of China and the problems it presents to us, I say the risis inevitable,” he said.“Throughout history, when one country becomes stronger, the former super-power feels uneasy,” he said, “But China’s rise is inevitable. There’s nothing that can prevent it, and there’s no rto oppose it. America needs to cooperate with the world’s most populous country.”Kissinger extolled cooperation. Only by cooperation, he said, can all countries, the US and China included, deal with bilateral relations.
The next US president
Kissinger was asked to forecast the next election, but said it is hard to say with 15 months to go and 30 candidates competing for the election.
For example, the former secretary said, if the war in Iraq ends peacefully before negotiations, a Republican candidate may have improved chances, and if not, the Democratic candidate will.
“The premise is whether or not they can show the American people they are reponsible,” Kissinger said.
