Letters | Trump should listen to Kissinger and stop treating China as an enemy

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Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger at a conference last year in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:55am, 19 Oct 2020Updated: 6:55am, 19 Oct 2020

In his 2014 book World Order, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger opines that America is consumed with fear that “a growing China will systematically undermine American pre-eminence and thus American security”.

The catchphrase of the current president has always been “America First”. The more I hear this, the more it looks to me like Donald Trump and his officials feel vulnerable and shaky about the global status of the United States. Their suspicions could have been reinforced by China’s recent displays of military might, even if these may well have been for normal, defensive purposes. Both America and China have the responsibility to rein in the hostilities and reduce the risk of all-out military confrontation.

At a virtual conference earlier this month, Kissinger said that rules of engagement should be established between the two big nations to minimise the risk of recreating the uncertainty that characterised global politics just before World War I broke out.

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Meanwhile, Trump, after staving off what he calls the “Chinese virus”, is attacking China again. He has repeatedly vowed to raise tariffs further on Chinese imports once he is reelected as president in November.

As far as we can tell, his beautiful rhetoric about rejuvenating the American economy has not materialised into reality. Whether Trump sees Kissinger as an astute politician or not, he should heed Kissinger’s advice on getting past the mindset of seeing China as a permanent enemy and launching “war” on it time and again, creating hostile vibes and the current crisis.

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