The 99-year-old former secretary of state warned against stoking tensions with the two powers
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Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warned of the dangers of the US policy toward Russia and China in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that was published on Friday.
“We are at the edge of war with Russia and China on issues which we partly created, without any concept of how this is going to end or what it’s supposed to lead to,” Kissinger said.
The 99-year-old former diplomat warned against changing policy toward Taiwan as Washington has been increasing support for the island, drawing the ire of China.
“The policy that was carried out by both parties has produced and allowed the progress of Taiwan into an autonomous democratic entity and has preserved peace between China and the US for 50 years,” he said. “One should be very careful, therefore, in measures that seem to change the basic structure.”
Kissinger made headlines back in May when he suggested at an address to the World Economic Forum that Ukraine should cede territory to Russia to achieve peace. He told the Journal that the US made a mistake in promising a future NATO membership to Ukraine, a position he has long held.
He said that he believed Poland and other “traditional Western countries” were logical NATO members but said Ukraine was different because many of its territories are historically Russian. “I was in favor of the full independence of Ukraine, but I thought its best role was something like Finland,” he said.
Kissinger’s overall message was that the US needs to accept that there must be “equilibrium” in the world. He said one aspect of equilibrium requires a “balance of power, with an acceptance of the legitimacy of sometimes opposing values.”
Kissinger is most infamously known for his role in leading the secret US bombing of Cambodia and Laos as President Nixon’s national security advisor. He also played a major role in opening up with China by making a secret trip to the country in 1971, one year before Nixon shook hands with Mao Zedong.
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