Many cynical Westerners had this to say about the extraordinary reception received by Henry Kissinger during his recent visit to China: Why is China lavishing on a has-been? Remember, former Filipino president Duterte has also just visited China. He was also warmly received. To these people, China is playing the wrong tune, geopolitically speaking.
Chinese concept of friendship has always been anchored on 感情 (gǎn qíng) – a term that encompasses several heartfelt expressions (to good deed by someone in the past, a genuine concern or offer of help, or the trust and confidence placed by a friend) and the earnest desire to reciprocate or return the favour when one is able to do so. You often see Chinese sparing no effort and expenses when it comes to entertaining good friends or someone who has done them a favour. Chinese diplomacy is simply an extension of that philosophy.
When Kissinger first visited China, Xi Jinping was still a nobody. But Kissinger’s place in China’s collective heart and mind has long been etched. Every Chinese is grateful that he has helped paved the way for China to join the world, even though we all know Nixon at that time was no saint; he also had a motive in wanting China to open up. Whether China’s re-emergence to what it is today is an intended consequence of that decision is still being debated by many lesser thinkers in America today. And whether this centenarian was coming to China on his own, or supported by the Biden administration, or being sponsored by some more-thoughtful parties in the US or elsewhere is not important to Chinese. Regardless, Kissinger is one whom they will always lay out the reddest of red carpets. He was being received like a head-of-state by Xi, who hosted a luncheon the arrangement for which China was happy to share with the world. He could even get to see Defence Minister Li Sangfu, who has refused to meet the 大番薯 (dà fān shǔ, big sweet (more appropriately, ugly?) potato) Llyod Austin. Biden and Blinken must be grinding their teeth! (It is therefore unlikely that Kissinger’s visit was sanctioned by the US government.)
I suppose it is hard for the West to understand our Chinese psyche. The West’s diplomacy is premised more on a transactional or Machiavellian nature – tit for tat, might-talks, zero-sum, etc, and usually devoid of compassion or long-term considerations. American bureaucrats and military officers will always behave as if they are superior to their counterparts. (Remember Blinken’s stupid opening remark to Yang Jiachi and Wang Yi during their first meeting in Alaska? And remember how America has reneged on those undertakings and promises made to China after World War II?) But they love underdogs – the way the Japanese showed subserviency to the Americans after their World War II defeat. And they are suckers to know how to manipulate them – like Saint Modi. (They also know how to squeeze the balls of beholden leaders in Europe and one particular one in Asia called Marcos Jr and many White worshippers like Yoon and Kishida.
Paul Keating is one rare Australian politician who truly understand the geopolitics in Asia. But he gets belittled each time he opens his mouth. Most Westerners have short memories; all they love are things that give them immediate gratification!)
Maybe good for the rest of the world to understand why Chinese can sustain themselves as a continuous civilisation for millennia! A couple of hundred years is just a flash in the pan in history.
Excellent view points !
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