China remembers Rumsfeld as pragmatist his successors could learn from
- Former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld saw Beijing as a threat, but initiated unprecedented cooperation with PLA
- His death at the age of 88 has reminded Chinese observers that stable relations with Washington may still be possible
Even though Rumsfeld saw China as a threat, he provided an example to his successors of how the US could work with its top adversary, Chinese experts said.
Rumsfeld, who died on June 29 at the age of 88 from multiple myeloma, was both the youngest and – at the time – the oldest Pentagon chief, serving in Gerald Ford’s administration before taking up the role again under Bush. He also worked for Richard Nixon, directing the Office of Economic Opportunity and as a cabinet-rank presidential assistant.
The longtime Republican was most notorious as the architect of Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, he was the first to steer US military focus from Europe to Asia – replacing Russia with China as its principal foe – long before the Obama administration’s “pivot to Asia” policy.
“Rumsfeld was a hardliner on China. He began to harshly criticise China in the 1990s,” said Zhu Feng, an international relations expert with Nanjing University. “He was deeply shaped by the Cold War experience, with strong ideological overtones.”
Zhu said Rumsfeld’s views about China had two outstanding features – a serious distrust of China’s military development, and an intense obsession to maintain absolute US military superiority over the People’s Liberation Army.