Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger helped broker talks between then-U.S. President Richard Nixon and China’s Mao Zedong, paving the way for the normalization of relations between the two countries.
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Veteran U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger met Chinese President Xi Jinping during a surprise visit to Beijing on Thursday, state media reported.
CCTV said in a news report that the Chinese Premier received the centenary former US Secretary of State at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. Post online.
Details of the talks were not disclosed, but a statement praised Kissinger as a “legendary diplomat,” referring to his previous work in U.S.-China settlement talks, according to a Google translation of the report.
“The Chinese people cherish friendship, and we will never forget our old friend and your historic contribution to promoting the development of Sino-U.S. relations and enhancing the friendship between the two peoples,” Xi was quoted as saying in another report by Xinhua, the official state news agency.
The State Department did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the meeting. However, Reuters reports The White House said Kissinger was not visiting China on behalf of the US government.
Kissinger’s meeting with Xi was his second surprise meeting this week, after the former diplomat spoke with Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Tuesday.
U.S.-China Tensions Ease
The talks come amid broader efforts between the two countries to ease diplomatic tensions.Sino-U.S. relations have been increasingly fractured amid a series of tit-for-tat situations in recent months Tech industry trade caps, heightened tensions around the Taiwan Strait and security concerns after the U.S. intercepted a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
Kissinger helped broker talks between then-U.S. President Richard Nixon and China’s Mao Zedong in 1979, paving the way for the normalization of relations between the two countries. He is still highly respected in China.
A video accompanying the CCTV post showed Kissinger sitting with Mr. Xi in a palatial room in the State Guesthouse — a place considered more intimate than the Great Hall of the People, where formal diplomatic meetings are usually held.
The video also includes clips from recent visits to China by U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen, Secretary of State Blinken and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.
Notably, Blinken was the only U.S. official to meet with Xi in recent weeks, holding what was considered a forceful but conciliatory last-minute meeting.
During a four-day visit to Beijing that concluded on Wednesday, Kerry said U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping could meet later this year.
Kerry was referring to the APEC leaders’ summit that the two leaders will attend in San Francisco in November. The two last met at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, in November.