My Take | How Beijing can do ‘a straight from Kissinger’ on the West
- Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden have been described as doing ‘a reverse Kissinger’ on China. More likely, though, is that they will end up getting a taste of their own medicine once concocted by the legendary diplomat
If this comparison is apt, and it’s not clear that it is, it rather highlights the policy deficiencies of the two US presidents. Meanwhile, Beijing itself has been pursuing its own version of “triangular diplomacy”, a phrase once made famous by the foreign policy duo of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger.
Let’s remember what happened in the 1970s. Recognising the deep divisions and mutual distrust within the communist bloc, Kissinger sought to exploit them to exert pressure and gain leverage on China, the Soviet Russia and North Vietnam.
The most immediate outcome was an end to the Vietnam war. But its most lasting impact, from today’s perspective, must be the opening of communist China and its integration, successful beyond anyone’s dream (or nightmare), into the global economy.
