Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger attends a luncheon at the U.S. State Department in Washington on Dec. 1, 2022. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
Recent news reports indicate that the Chinese economic ship is in serious shoal waters, as reported by Forbes (“Will China Finally Implode This Time?”), CNN (“More Stimulus Desperately Needed), The Epoch Times (“China’s Economy Is in Big Trouble …”), and other Western media.
State-run Chinese media have responded with hollow assurances that all is well while railing against decoupling, “de-risking,” tariffs, technology sanctions, and other long-overdue measures that are stakes to the heart of China’s export economy.
In addition to touting new measures to stimulate the growth of China’s private sector (so much for the promises of communism and collectivism!), Beijing is heaping public praise on its “longtime friend,” Henry A. Kissinger, in a seemingly desperate attempt to convince the Biden administration to return to the policy of engagement with China that predated the Trump administration.
Will a centenarian help save the Chinese economy? He’s done it before.
The Modern China Hand
Mr. Kissinger has led a charmed life since he stepped off the plane in China in July 1971 as then-President Richard Nixon’s national security adviser to conduct a secret meeting with then-Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai. That meeting led to Nixon’s 1972 trip to China and the subsequent “opening” of the Middle Kingdom to the rest of the world.
It also kicked off a cottage industry of modern-day “China hands” who specialized in facilitating engagement at all levels—especially economic—with the communists. The “old China hands” generally refer to U.S. foreign service officers, diplomats, and China experts in the 1940s who influenced America’s China policy. These people enriched themselves with Chinese-paid sinecures and career-enhancing revolving doors among the U.S. State Department, think tanks, law firms, and academia. Many of them grew rich and famous, not the least of them including HAK himself, whose consulting business Kissinger Associates has specialized since its founding in 1982 on “strategic partnerships, investment opportunities, and government relations.” Mr. Kissinger still has great influence among U.S. elites. Many of the China hands who are still active revere and invoke Mr. Kissinger because they owe him their careers and their personal wealth.
Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 17, 2015. Since helping bring about the opening of China to the United States in 1972, Kissinger has been one of the foremost advocates for engaging China. (Feng Li/Pool/Getty Images)
This cottage industry of China hands was the kernel around which was built the wildly successful elite capture strategy of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in recent decades, described in detail by the Discovery Institute last year. From the article: “Without a doubt the greatest elite capture by the CCP has been the Joe Biden family, which started at least as far back as 2013 when Hunter accompanied his father on a trip to China. ... Today, there is documented proof that that the Biden family has received at least $31 million from entities controlled by the CCP, with greater Chinese payoffs yet to come.”
There is a direct line between opening China, the China engagement strategy, the economic rise of China at the expense of the United States and the West (China’s trade surplus), and China’s elite capture strategy, and Mr. Kissinger has shown the way since 1971.
Note that Mr. Kissinger’s academic and national security pursuits had been almost exclusively Euro-centric (and particularly Soviet-centric) before his trip to China. He apparently had no particular experience in or knowledge of China or East Asia in general before he was appointed Nixon’s national security adviser in 1969. Mr. Kissinger’s early claim to fame was his advocacy in 1960 of a “flexible response strategy” that combined the use of tactical nuclear weapons and conventional forces in lieu of massive retaliation (“mutually assured destruction”) during a potential strategic war with the Soviet Union. He was also instrumental in developing the policy of détente with the Soviets, for example, as then-Secretary of State Kissinger termed it in 1974, “a process of managing relations with a potentially hostile country in order to preserve peace while maintaining our vital interests.”
Yet throughout his life after government service at Kissinger Associates, he parlayed his China engagement expertise at least in part to a current net worth of $50 million, as reported by Celebrity Net Worth. This has paralleled China’s GDP growth from $113.69 billion in 1972 to $17.734 trillion in 2021, according to Macro Trends.
Chinese Media Praise Kissinger
Successive trips to Beijing by three top members of the Biden administration over the past few weeks accomplished nothing of substance, as noted in Japan Forward. Yet CCP leader Xi Jinping apparently rolled out the red carpet for Mr. Kissinger during a surprise visit on July 20—perhaps not quite the surprise of his 1971 trip, but a head-scratcher nonetheless.
U.S. President Richard Nixon inspects a guard of honor at Peking (Beijing) airport with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, in China, on Feb. 21, 1972. (Keystone/Getty Images)
While Mr. Xi essentially gave the back of the hand to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, and climate czar John Kerry, Mr. Kissinger met privately with Mr. Xi at Villa No. 5 of Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, which was the same place where Mr. Kissinger met Mr. Zhou in 1971. The symbolism (superstition?) so loved by Mr. Xi and the communists was transparent: “We need you to do your best to ‘open China’ once again.”
According to China Daily, Mr. Xi was quoted as saying: “We will not forget the historical contributions you have made to the development of China-U.S. relations and the friendship between the Chinese and American people.” Mr. Xi is seeking Mr. Kissinger’s help in orchestrating a bad sequel, “Engagement Part Deux.”
Mr. Kissinger’s visit led to a host of favorable articles in state-run China media intended to influence U.S. elites to “engage with China”: “US Needs Kissinger-Style Wisdom” (China Daily), “Wang meets Kissinger; Beijing delivers clear message to Washington” (Global Times), “Why US needs Kissinger’s diplomatic wisdom” (China Military Online), and “Henry Kissinger hopes for restoration of China-US ties” (Global Times).
This demonstrates the CCP’s political and psychological warfare at its finest.
Concluding Thoughts
Something is fishy. Beijing trots out an old China engagement war horse and centenarian in a public display of “diplomatic affection.” If the Chinese economy is zooming right along under the watchful eyes of the CCP, then why the fanfare surrounding Mr. Kissinger’s latest visit to China?
Apparently, the Western media reports cited above that point to severe Chinese economic problems are real, and Mr. Xi is pulling out all stops to jumpstart China’s export economy by using a “dear old friend” to convince the Biden administration to engage with China on Chinese terms. These terms include “respecting China,” stopping the “suppression of Chinese technological development” through U.S. trade sanctions, stopping U.S. interference in China’s internal affairs, and ending individual sanctions on high-level CCP officials.
Mr. Kissinger’s magic worked once for the Chinese communists; they may be counting on it working again over 50 years later.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Stu Cvrk retired as a captain after serving 30 years in the U.S. Navy in a variety of active and reserve capacities, with considerable operational experience in the Middle East and the Western Pacific. Through education and experience as an oceanographer and systems analyst, Cvrk is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he received a classical liberal education that serves as the key foundation for his political commentary.
