Henry Kissinger, in promotion of his new book, On China, spoke in conversation with Robert Thomson, the editor-in-chief of Dow Jones & Company and managing editor of the Wall Street Journal, on Wednesday night as part of the New York Public Library’s and WSJ’s Ideas Market Speaker Series.
The discussion covered US-China relations, past and future, as well as personal stories and anecdotes Kissinger had experienced during his distinguished career, many of which are included in his book.
He spoke candidly about his opinions regarding Mao Zedong, saying: “Mao was one of those tremendous figures, of a prophetic type because he had a vision of the future and it had to be done in his life,” Kissinger said, “because he didn’t trust his people to complete it without him.”
“He would say things like, ‘We can afford to lose 300 million people; we will produce faster,’” Kissinger said.
“He did monstrous things, yet he unified China—a spectacular achievement achieved at a tremendous cost.”
In tracing US-China relations back, Kissinger first pointed out the fundamental difference between American diplomacy and Chinese diplomacy.
The American approach, Kissinger stated, is to focus on one aspect or problem with great energy and a concentrated use of resources to address it. The Chinese approach, however, first acknowledges that problems are frequent and their existence is normal, and that “discovering or solving one problem uncovers a whole new set of problems.”
Kissinger sees the future of Chinese nationalism as maintaining tradition, and remaining strong and sometimes even volatile. He expressed his worry about the current generation, which is tending toward fewer children per household, which puts increased pressure on each child to be successful and honor the family.
“I worry about four grandparents all vying for his [a child’s] attention,” Kissinger said. “They have it drilled into them that if they don’t get all A’s, they will disgrace their family. I’m worried about if that gets into foreign policy.”
Concern about China’s economic growth potential was also discussed.
“To continue this exercise, to have six million people move from the countryside to the city, and at the same time keep international relations in mind, to assume that can be done with a 9% growth rate, seems impossible,” stated Kissinger. “If the growth rate fell to, say, 7%, there may be political turmoil.”
Kissinger reiterated a few times how important he believes the next ten years will be in China’s history. He said, “China cannot avoid political reform in the next decade. Some sort of mass demonstration is unavoidable.”
On China was released in May by Penguin Press.
