China’s leader Xi Jinping met with former U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger on Thursday and said both countries need to “make new decisions” for stable relations and “joint success and prosperity.”
Kissinger is respected in China for opening ties between Beijing and Washington under Nixon in the 1970s.
Xi spoke with Kissinger at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, along with Chinese senior diplomat Wang Yi.
“China and the United States are at a crossroads and need to make new decisions,” Xi said, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
“China and the United States can achieve joint success and prosperity,” Xi said.
Kissinger’s visit came as Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry also visited China, the third senior Biden official in recent weeks to do so. The U.S. wants to resume dialogue with China on issues such as trade, technology, Taiwan and human rights.
Wang praised Kissinger’s role in China-U.S. relations and said the U.S. needs “the diplomatic wisdom like that of Kissinger and political courage like Nixon’s.”
The two sides also discussed Ukraine, artificial intelligence and other topics. Wang told Kissinger that China cannot be transformed, encircled or contained by the U.S.
On Tuesday, Kissinger met with Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who is banned from visiting the U.S. over arms sales to Russia. Li said China-U.S. ties had hit a low point because of “some people on the American side who are not willing to meet China halfway.”
The U.S. says it has no such intentions and only seeks frank dialogue and fair competition.
China cut off many contacts with the Biden administration last August over Taiwan, which China claims as its own. China has not restarted dialogue with the U.S. military and has its own demands from Washington. U.S. officials have said they will not offer Beijing any deals.
