After 20 years of postwar animosity, Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party considered Henry Kissinger “a most valued old friend” for reestablishing relations.
Henry Kissinger, the Special Envoy of the United States of America, right, talks with Zhou Enlai, the Prime Minister of China, in Beijing in July of 1971. (Source: VOA News)
China’s Friend and Foe Died
But with his death this week aged 100, Chinese citizens online had mixed views about the American who, with then-Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and Richard Nixon in 1972, helped the poor nation become an economic rival to the U.S. Kissinger was called China’s “last old friend,” but others condemned him for caving to the CCP. On Weibo, China’s largest but severely restricted social media site, #KissingerDeath# topped the popular search list with roughly 600 million readers on Friday. People posted condolences on social media. Kissinger’s official website referenced “China” 11 times in announcing his death at home in Connecticut on Wednesday. Kissinger visited China almost 100 times since 1971. He stated in October’s New York speech that “I’ve spent half of my life working on U.S.-China relations.” During Kissinger’s final visit to China in July 2023, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted a spectacular banquet in the chamber where he met Zhou Enlai in 1971 to mark his 100th birthday. Xi offered his condolences to Biden on Thursday “China-U.S. ties will always be linked to Kissinger. Dr. Kissinger will be much missed by the Chinese people forever. There were photographs showing Kissinger smiling and shaking hands with senior members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), visiting the terra cotta warriors, eating Chinese food with his family, and speaking with farmers who were included in the memorial tales.
Some online opinion leaders warned Chinese people to be weary of Kissinger’s kindness and emphasis on his American and Jewish identity. Influencers thought Kissinger’s actions only benefited the US. Master Li Wuwei, a Weibo user with over 400,000 followers, stated Kissinger was not China’s benefactor no matter how often he visited. “China is Kissinger’s benefactor, not the other way around,” Master Li Wuwei observed. Kissinger has been mentioned by the Chinese for decades because of the specific purpose in the distinctive historical epoch of China-US relations. Overseas Chinese, such as Zhou Fengsuo, a Tiananmen Square student leader in 1989, have had varying perspectives on Kissinger’s legacy.
“On June 4 massacre in 1989, when interviewed by ABC News, Kissinger opposed all sanctions against the Chinese Communist Party,” Zhou said on X, once Twitter. “He did not mention that he had teamed with CITIC to create ‘China Ventures.’ Shouldn’t Kissinger have been a CCP agent under contemporary standards?” Zhou is the executive director of U.S.-based Human Rights in China. The U.S.-based Christian former Chinese private entrepreneur Hu Liren remarked on X that “Kissinger produced the biggest devil (CCP) in history. This monster has caused global tragedies and will continue to do so. He is a historical offender unworthy of memory.” Chinese pro-democracy campaigner Wei Jingsheng stated about X, “From the American perspective, he broke the Communist camp that ended the China-Soviet connection. From China’s perspective, he saved and benefited from Mao. He still supported CCP tyranny.”
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