Kissinger, a former US secretary of state whose unapologetic promotion of raw American power helped shape the post-World War II world, died Wednesday, his consulting firm said.
The diplomat, who lived to 100, had a mixed legacy internationally, seen by many as an unindicted war criminal for his roles in conflicts in Southeast Asia and the overthrow of democratically-elected governments.
But in China, he is granted the sobriquet of "old friend of the Chinese people" for his part in establishing ties back in the 1970s and helping bring the country out of its Mao-era isolation.
And as US-China ties have plummeted in recent years, the elder statesman -- who visited the country more than 100 times -- became seen by many as emblematic of a more genteel, friendly time in Washington-Beijing relations.
"During his life, Dr. Kissinger attached great importance to China-US relations and believed that they were vital to the peace and prosperity of the two countries and the world," foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, describing him as an "old and good friend of the Chinese people".
Kissinger last visited China as recently as July, when he held talks with President Xi Jinping.
In a lengthy obituary on Thursday, Beijing's state broadcaster CCTV hailed his "historic contribution to the opening of the door to US-China relations".
"Kissinger had a deep bond with China," it said, noting his "many meetings with Chinese leaders".
As national security advisor to the then-US-president Richard Nixon, Kissinger secretly flew to Beijing in 1971 on a mission to establish relations with communist China.
The trip set the stage for a landmark visit by Nixon, who sought both to shake up the Cold War and enlist help in ending the Vietnam War.
Washington's overtures to an isolated Beijing contributed to China's rise to become a manufacturing powerhouse and the world's second-largest economy.
- 'Best and oldest friend' -
Since leaving office, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kissinger grew wealthy advising businesses on China -- and had warned against a hawkish turn in US policy.
Chinese officials have struggled in recent years to hide their nostalgia for the days of rapprochement under Kissinger.
During a meeting with the late secretary of state in Beijing this year, top diplomat Wang Yi said that "US policy toward China needs Kissinger-style diplomatic wisdom".
And Beijing's foreign ministry on Thursday said the United States and China should "inherit and carry forward Dr. Kissinger's strategic vision, political courage, and diplomatic wisdom".
On the streets of Beijing, passersby said they were saddened by Kissinger's death.
"He was indeed the best and oldest friend of China," a tearful 67-year-old, who only identified himself by his surname of Li, told AFP.
"He gave everything to promote Sino-US relations," Zhang Wende, also in his late sixties, said.
"I am definitely very saddened, truly."
Another Beijing resident who only gave her surname, 35-year-old Dou, told AFP Kissinger's passing was a "loss for Sino-US relations" and that the former US diplomat had overseen a "honeymoon period" between the two countries.
"If he were still alive, I believe he would continue to make efforts for the relationship between China and the United States," she said.
Online, the late diplomat's death was among the top trending topics on both social media platform Weibo and the Google-like Baidu.
One user commented that the death represented a "watershed moment" at a time of China's ascension as a world power.
"From now on, it's the beginning of our rise and for the US to go down."
Henry Kissinger, singular US diplomat, dead at 100
Washington (AFP) Nov 30, 2023 -
Henry Kissinger, the relentlessly ambitious US diplomat whose unapologetic promotion of raw American power helped shape the post-World War II world, died Wednesday, his consulting firm said. He was 100.
Kissinger, arguably the most identifiable secretary of state in modern times, died at his home in Connecticut, announced Kissinger Associates, through which the late diplomat grew wealthy helping businesses for decades after his government career.
It said that Kissinger's family would hold a private funeral, with a memorial service to take place later in New York, where Kissinger grew up after his Jewish family fled Nazi Germany.
The statement did not provide a cause of death. Kissinger had remained active even at as a centenarian, traveling to China in July to meet President Xi Jinping.
China was one of Kissinger's most lasting legacies. Hoping to shake up the Cold War fight against the Soviet Union, Kissinger secretly reached out to Beijing, culminating in a historic 1972 visit by president Richard Nixon and later the US establishment of relations with the then-isolated country, which has soared into the world's second largest economy and growing competitor with Washington.
While Kissinger was despised in much of the world, China's ambassador to Washington, Xie Feng, called Kissinger a "most valued old friend" and his death a "tremendous loss for both our countries and the world."
Kissinger at home also enjoyed deference across the political mainstream, with incumbent Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a member of the rival Democratic Party, attending his 100th birthday party in New York.
"America has lost one of the most dependable and distinctive voices on foreign affairs with the passing of Henry Kissinger," former president George W. Bush, a Republican, said in a statement.
Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiations to end the Vietnam War, even though the conflict did not immediately end and his North Vietnamese counterpart, Le Duc Tho, declined to accept the prize.
After the Watergate scandal brought down Nixon, Kissinger served under his successor, Gerald Ford. In an unprecedented arrangement reflecting his influence, Kissinger served simultaneously as secretary of state -- the country's top diplomat -- and national security advisor, the president's right-hand aide.
- Realpolitik and its consequences -
While Kissinger's intellectual gifts were begrudgingly acknowledged even by his critics, he remains deeply controversial for his ruthless philosophy of realpolitik -- the cold calculation that nations pursue their own interests through power.
Declassified documents showed that Kissinger gave his blessing to the undermining of Chile's elected Marxist president Salvador Allende and the 1973 coup by General Augusto Pinochet.
Kissinger also supported Indonesia, a close anti-communist ally, as it seized East Timor in 1975. More than 100,000 East Timorese died from the start of the invasion -- launched one day after Kissinger and Ford met Indonesian leader Suharto -- until Indonesia ended its occupation in 1999.
Kissinger also turned a blind eye to Pakistan's mass atrocities as Bangladesh won independence in 1971, believing the US interest was keeping Islamabad as the quiet go-between with China.
Seeking to pull out of Vietnam but with a stronger hand at the negotiating table, Nixon and Kissinger authorized a secret 1969-1970 bombing campaign in Laos and Cambodia aimed at disrupting rebel movement into South Vietnam.
The bombing did not halt the infiltration but it killed thousands of civilians and helped spawn the genocidal Khmer Rouge.
Kissinger similarly showed little concern over Cyprus when Greece's military junta deposed the elected leader, Archbishop Makarios, and Turkey in 1974 invaded the island, which remains divided.
- Iconic diplomat -
But Kissinger has never faced serious legal jeopardy, with a US judge in 2004 throwing out a lawsuit related to the assassination of Chile's army chief.
Kissinger won plaudits across the US political spectrum after the 1973 Yom Kippur War with his intensive negotiations between Israel and Arab states that came to define shuttle diplomacy.
He succeeded in splitting Arab powers from their Soviet patron, securing the role of the United States as the primary mediator and security guarantor in the region.
With his bookishly thick glasses and his deep monotone voice that never lost a touch of his native German, the immigrant academic turned ultimate insider became instantly recognizable and even an unlikely sex symbol, hobnobbing with famous women. Kissinger spoke of his reputation with a classic realpolitik answer, "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac."
He is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years Nancy, two children from a previous marriage and five grandchildren.
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