Interview: Kissinger warns of dire consequences if China, US don't act together

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The US and China need to see themselves as partners, not enemies, veteran US diplomat Henry Kissinger told CGTN in an exclusive interview, adding that despite its combative rhetoric the new Trump administration will eventually stick to past US policy on China.

“I think it is essential for China and the United States to think of each other as potential partners, not as potential adversaries and to solve their disputes on the basis of long-term cooperation,” the former US secretary of state said.

“If we do not do this, the whole world will be divided and other countries will be tempted to take advantage of that situation.”

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger waves after receiving an award during a ceremony at the Pentagon honoring his diplomatic career May 9, 2016 in Washington, DC. /CFP Photo

The future of US-China relations has been thrown into confusion following comments by Trump that China was a currency manipulator and that he would impose massive trade tariffs on Beijing. He has also appeared to question the long-standing one-China policy, which sees Taiwan as part of China.

Kissinger, who amassed massive knowledge about China during his diplomatic career, including as secretary of state under US President Richard Nixon, warned that past principles should be respected.

“The United States and the Chinese leaders developed a formulation on the one-China principle that should be the guidance today… I believe we will come to a point in which it is understood that the early principles of the US-China relationship have to be maintained,” he said.

Henry Kissinger. /CFP Photo

“I think in the end, President Trump will also follow comparable principles” to previous administrations, Kissinger noted, adding “I have every hope that the objectives that I described will find their way into the ultimate American policy.”

Trump met with the 93-year-old diplomat, who has acted as foreign policy adviser for a number of US administrations, shortly after the election last November. Media reports said their conversation covered Russia, Iran and the European Union, as well as China.

At the same time, Kissinger was critical of some of Trump's policies during the election campaign, including a proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the US, which was partly put in place with Trump’s recent executive order barring residents of seven majority Muslim countries from entering the US.

Widely seen as a trailblazer for Sino-American ties, Kissinger paid a secret visit to China in 1971, paving the way for the establishment of US-China formal diplomatic ties in 1979.

A regular visitor to China, Kissinger was last in Beijing in December when he met with President Xi Jinping.

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