Henry Kissinger said the ”future of the world” depended on the US and China resolving their differences. He warned competition between the world’s two largest economies was ”permanent” and that they had to ”get used to” the ”rivalry” or risk disastrous consequences.
Mr Kissinger was the diplomatic driving force behind then US President Richard Nixon’s groundbreaking visit to China in 1972.
Known in Beijing as ”an old friend of the Chinese people”, he also met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior cabinet officials ahead of the G20 meeting between President Donald Trump and Mr Xi last year.
Speaking in New York on Thursday, the 96-year-old veteran said the relationship between the US and China began as a strategic one under mutual pressure from the Soviet Union. […]
The former US secretary of state said conflicts were ”inevitable” given the history between the superpowers, however failure to mend relations would be extremely dangerous. He said: “There may not be a complete agreement.
”What is imperative is that both countries understand that a permanent conflict between them cannot be won.
”There will be a catastrophic outcome if it leads to permanent conflict.” The result would be ”worse than the world wars that ruined European civilisation”, he warned. Läs artikel