Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger helped dealer talks between then-U.S. President Richard Nixon and China’s Mao Zedong, paving the way in which for normalized relations.
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Veteran U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger met with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday throughout a surprise go to to Beijing, in line with state media.
The 100-year-old former U.S. Secretary of State was hosted by the Chinese premier on the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, CCTV stated in an online post.
Details of the talks weren’t disclosed, although a press release praised Kissinger as a “legendary diplomat” in reference to his prior work in negotiating U.S. rapprochement with China, in line with a Google translation of the report.
“Chinese individuals worth friendship, and we’ll always remember our previous good friend and your historic contribution to selling the event of Sino-US relations and enhancing the friendship between the Chinese and American peoples,” a further report from official state information company Xinhua quoted Xi as saying, in line with Google translate.
The U.S. State Department didn’t instantly reply to CNBC’s request for touch upon the assembly. However, Reuters reported that the White House stated Kissinger was not visiting China on behalf of the U.S. authorities.
Kissinger’s talks with Xi had been his second sudden assembly of the week, after the previous diplomat spoke with China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Tuesday.
A thawing of U.S.-Sino tensions
The talks come amid wider efforts to thaw diplomatic tensions between the 2 world powers. U.S.-Sino relations have grown more and more fractured over latest months amid a string of tit-for-tat tech sector trade caps, elevated tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and safety issues following U.S. interception of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
Kissinger — who in 1979 helped dealer talks between then-U.S. President Richard Nixon and China’s Mao Zedong, paving the way in which for normalized relations — continues to be held in excessive regard in China.
A video accompanying CCTV’s submit reveals footage of Kissinger sitting with Xi in one of many palatial rooms of the state guesthouse — a location thought of extra intimate than the Great Hall of the People, the place official diplomatic conferences are usually held.
The video additionally options footage of the latest visits to China of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. local weather envoy John Kerry.
Notably, Blinken was the one different U.S. official to safe face time with Xi over latest weeks, holding a last-minute meeting that was described as sturdy however conciliatory.
Kerry, in a four-day go to to Beijing which concluded Wednesday, signaled {that a} forthcoming meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi might be on the playing cards later this 12 months.
Kerry was referring to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit, which the 2 leaders are set to attend in San Francisco in November. The final time the pair met was in November at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.