Henry Kissinger marks 50 years since first China visit with call for talks to avoid ‘catastrophe’

He urges serious US-China dialogue on major issues on the basis that a war ‘would be an unspeakable catastrophe’

Need to cooperate has not diminished, former US secretary of state says at Beijing event celebrating his historic 1971 visit

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Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger speaks during a previous event in China, which he has visited close to 100 times. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:00pm, 9 Jul 2021Updated: 11:31pm, 9 Jul 2021

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger called for serious dialogue between China and the United States to avoid “catastrophe”, during a Beijing event celebrating his historic trip to China 50 years ago.

The 98-year-old again warned against further deterioration of Sino-US relations when he appeared by video on Friday at an event in Beijing celebrating his first secret visit to China in 1971. That visit paved the way for China and the US to establish formal diplomatic relations in 1979.

“So here we are, 50 years later, in a situation in which the need for cooperation has not diminished,” Kissinger said in a video of his speech published by Chinese nationalistic tabloid Global Times. “Conflict between the US and China will divide the whole world and attempts to line up nations on one side or the other will create divisions in the world and temptations and pressures that will become increasingly difficult to resolve.”

Henry Kissinger meets China’s then premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing in July 1971. Photo: AFP

The former diplomat, who has warned repeatedly against relations deteriorating, called for dialogue between the countries like the one he helped set up in 1972 between former US president Richard Nixon, to whom he was national security adviser, and Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

“I therefore hope that a serious dialogue starts soon again on the major issues between us,” he said. “Not every problem can have an immediate solution, but we should start from the premise that war between our two countries would be an unspeakable catastrophe.”