Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger helped broker talks between then-U.S. President Richard Nixon and China’s Mao Zedong, paving the way in which for normalized relations.
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Veteran U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger met with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday during a surprise visit to Beijing, in accordance with state media.
The 100-year-old former U.S. Secretary of State was hosted by the Chinese premier on the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, CCTV said in an online post.
Details of the talks weren’t disclosed, though an announcement praised Kissinger as a “legendary diplomat” in reference to his prior work in negotiating U.S. rapprochement with China, in accordance with a Google translation of the report.
“Chinese people value friendship, and we are going to always remember our old friend and your historic contribution to promoting the event of Sino-US relations and enhancing the friendship between the Chinese and American peoples,” an extra report from official state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying, in accordance with Google translate.
The U.S. State Department didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment on the meeting. Nevertheless, Reuters reported that the White House said Kissinger was not visiting China on behalf of the U.S. government.
Kissinger’s talks with Xi were his second unexpected meeting of the week, after the previous diplomat spoke with China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu on Tuesday.
A thawing of U.S.-Sino tensions
The talks come amid wider efforts to thaw diplomatic tensions between the 2 global powers. U.S.-Sino relations have grown increasingly fractured over recent months amid a string of tit-for-tat tech sector trade caps, increased tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and security concerns following U.S. interception of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
Kissinger — who in 1971 helped broker talks between then-U.S. President Richard Nixon and China’s Mao Zedong, paving the way in which for normalized relations — continues to be held in high regard in China.
A video accompanying CCTV’s post shows footage of Kissinger sitting with Xi in one in all the palatial rooms of the state guesthouse — a location considered more intimate than the Great Hall of the People, where official diplomatic meetings are typically held.
The video also features footage of the recent visits to China of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.
Notably, Blinken was the one other U.S. official to secure face time with Xi over recent weeks, holding a last-minute meeting that was described as robust but conciliatory.
Kerry, in a four-day visit to Beijing which concluded Wednesday, signaled that a forthcoming meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Xi may very well be on the cards later this yr.
Kerry was referring to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit, which the 2 leaders are set to attend in San Francisco in November. The last time the pair met was in November on the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.