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US-China relations
ChinaDiplomacy

US to blame for poor relations, sanctioned Chinese defence minister tells diplomatic veteran Henry Kissinger

  • Li Shangfu says relations ‘hovering at the lowest point’ since 1970s in meeting with Kissinger, who played a key role in establishing formal diplomatic ties
  • The defence minister last month turned down a request to meet his American counterpart Lloyd Austin at a security forum in Singapore

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Henry Kissinger said he was visiting “as a friend of China”. Photo: Weibo
Liu Zhen
China wants a healthy and stable relationship with the United States but relations have been damaged by the American side, the Chinese defence minister has told Henry Kissinger.
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General Li Shangfu, who is on Washington’s sanctions list, told the veteran diplomat the China-US relationship is “hovering at the lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations” in 1979.

Li blamed the deterioration on “some people on the American side failing to meet China halfway”, according to a news release on the Ministry of Defence’s official social media account.

Kissinger, as Richard Nixon’s national security adviser and secretary of state, played a key role in normalising ties in the 1970s.
Li Shangfu welcomes the 100-year-old diplomatic veteran. Photo: Weibo
Li Shangfu welcomes the 100-year-old diplomatic veteran. Photo: Weibo

“The fact of interdependence between the two countries is being neglected, the history of win-win cooperation is being misinterpreted, and the atmosphere of friendly communication is being undermined,” Li added.

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“China is taking a path of peaceful development and that’s a blessing not a misfortune for the world, and the United States should make a correct strategic judgment.”

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