Xi Jinping may ‘recalibrate’ after miscalculation of siding with Russia, Henry Kissinger says
- Xi wants to avoid seeing a wall of Western opposition against China develop in the way it has against Russia, according to the former US secretary of state
- Kissinger says Xi must have thought the invasion of Ukraine would be successful because he gave Vladimir Putin ‘a rather blank check’
After watching China’s “no limits” partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin fall well short of expectations, the stage is set for President Xi Jinping to tilt at least modestly toward the United States after the 20th party congress, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said on Monday.
“Xi gave a rather blank check to Putin,” Kissinger said at the Asia Society in New York. “He must have thought the invasion would succeed. He must need to recalibrate.”
A slow easing of US-China tensions could begin as early as next month at the Group of 20 summit of economic nations in Indonesia when Xi and US President Joe Biden are expected to meet.
Xi almost certainly expected Putin to be successful after Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine – an offensive that has revealed deep weaknesses in the Russian military – and wants to avoid seeing a wall of Western opposition against China develop in the way it has against Russia, potentially raising questions at home, Kissinger said.
01:32
Putin admits to mobilisation mistakes after reports of sick, old men being drafted
But Kissinger, who accompanied presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford to China in the 1970s, added that Xi was a formidable adversary, a firm believer in a strong Chinese Communist state and could still adjust instead by ramping up nationalism at home rather than easing tensions with the US.
