Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan and former Secretary of State Kissinger, an old friend of the Chinese Communist Party, speak at an event in Beijing on the 50th anniversary of U.S.-China “ping pong diplomacy. (Video Screenshot)
At a time when relations between the United States and China are under strain, the Chinese Communist Party is marking the 50th anniversary of “ping pong diplomacy” in a high-profile manner, with Wang Qishan taking the opportunity to stir up old feelings for the United States, not only by talking about the 50-year-old ice-breaking trip between the United States and China, but also by asking for continued cooperation from the U.S. side. But Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi poured cold water on the issue, accusing the United States of not finding the right way to engage with the Chinese Communist Party.
On April 24, Beijing held an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of U.S.-China “ping pong diplomacy,” which was reportedly attended by some 700 people from all walks of life, and Wang Qishan delivered a video message.
Wang Qishan revisited the U.S.-China “ping pong diplomacy” and “used the small ball to promote the big ball. As the world’s top two economies and permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, “cooperation between China and the United States is mutually beneficial, while fighting is fearful of injury, and cooperation is the only correct choice,” Wang said.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, an old friend of the Chinese Communist Party, also talked about “understanding” via video message, saying, “I look forward to the two peoples reaching an understanding based on the importance of the two countries in the world landscape and economy. The so-called “ping pong diplomacy” was also discussed via video message.
The so-called “ping pong diplomacy” refers to the invitation by then-communist party leader Mao Zedong to U.S. ping pong players to visit China in 1971, which gave the Communist Party the opportunity to establish diplomatic relations with the United States.
This year, April 5 marked the 50th anniversary of U.S.-China “ping pong diplomacy,” and despite the U.S. government’s lukewarm reception, the Chinese Communist Party took the opportunity to make a big splash and invite Kissinger, an old friend of the Communist Party, in an attempt to repair the increasingly strained U.S.-China relationship.
In contrast to the current awkward stalemate in U.S.-China relations, on April 10, Shanghai suddenly hosted a series of events to mark the 50th anniversary of U.S.-China ping-pong diplomacy, and invited U.S. Consul General James Heller (second from left) to Shanghai. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
Analysis: Wang Qishan copes with the scene
In response, an opinion piece published by Agence France-Presse said that Wang Qishan had little impact, and that his speech was “just a show, nothing new”, while Kissinger was just a figure increasingly “marginalized” by Washington.
Yet Kissinger has been repeatedly received by Chinese Communist Party leaders, including Xi Jinping, who praised the Communist Party’s good friend “for his contributions to U.S.-China relations and lost no time in calling on the United States to “work with China” in November 2019 at the Great Hall in Beijing.
Indeed, Kissinger has maintained good relations with the Chinese Communist Party leaders, the article said, turning a blind eye to the Hong Kong crisis, the mass detention of Uighurs in Xinjiang, and the aggressiveness of the Communist Party at the international level.
On March 20, Kissinger also declared that the U.S. and China must understand each other, or the glory will be gone and the world will face “pre-World War I dangers.
On March 25, Kissinger made a similar statement at a video conference of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, a British think tank, that the Chinese Communist Party is getting stronger and that it is difficult for the United States to negotiate with a competitor like the Chinese Communist Party.
However, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi poured cold water on Kissinger’s efforts by accusing the United States of “not finding the right way to deal with China,” making Kissinger’s efforts seem futile and Wang Qishan’s speech seem useless.
Kissinger is “unrequited love”?
William Stanton, a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan, criticized Kissinger as the CCP’s biggest fan in an April 9 article, “Influential Chinese Agents. The article said Kissinger is “unrequited in his love” and has spent “most of his career flattering the Chinese Communist Party in the hope of gaining favor with Beijing.”
“From the Chinese perspective, of course, he was just being used,” according to the article. Kissinger, who has been increasingly marginalized by Washington, has in recent years been speaking basically to Wang Qishan. Not long ago, Wang Qishan acted as an “announcer” at the Boao conference, calling himself an “impromptu host” and trying to warm up the stage for Xi Jinping’s speech.
The article argues that Wang Qishan’s remarks on the 50th anniversary of “ping pong diplomacy” were just for show. Not only is his role limited, but he probably knows that the U.S.-China relationship has reached such a point that his side remarks are useless.
In parallel to this video commemoration of “ping pong diplomacy,” there was a “China-US video conference. A video exchange between Wang Yi and the Institute for Foreign Relations, a U.S. think tank, was published on the official website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry on April 24.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Pours Cold Water
According to RFE/RL, the “China-US video conference” at this point should intersect with the 50th anniversary of Ping-Pong diplomacy, but Wang Yi’s remarks were anything but witty.
Wang Yi criticized the new U.S. administration for its China policy, which has not yet emerged from the shadow of the previous administration, has not yet emerged from the so-called misconceptions about China, and has not yet found the right way to deal with the Chinese Communist Party. In short, all the problems are on the U.S. side. Wang also advised the United States not to “engage in values diplomacy under the banner of democracy and human rights.”
The report suggests that Wang Yi may have been inspired by criticism of the Chinese Communist Party’s muzzled diplomacy, vaccine diplomacy, and war-wolf diplomacy, and simply put the West in a position to “engage in values diplomacy for balance?”
Analysts say that 50 years ago, the U.S. and China promoted “ping-pong diplomacy” in a direction that included expectations of universal values such as democracy and freedom, but Wang Yi now describes it as “values diplomacy.” How can the two sides narrow their differences?
If Kissinger still remembers the “ping-pong diplomacy” of 50 years ago, and if he sincerely hopes for an understanding between the United States and China, the newspaper said, should Wang Yi’s statement be a wake-up call to his old friend in the Communist Party?
“Ping-Pong diplomacy led to President Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing in 1972. In this photo, Nixon meets with Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong in Beijing on Feb. 22, 1972. (XINHUA/AFP via Getty Images)
Kissinger is a representative of the U.S. “pro-communist” faction
Kissinger, who has been called an “old friend” by the Chinese Communist Party, is a typical representative of the “pro-communist” faction in the United States and has been pursuing a strategy of “embracing the Chinese Communist Party”. He has been pursuing a strategy of “embracing the Chinese Communist Party,” which is completely at odds with the Trump administration’s policy of decoupling from the Chinese Communist Party.
Before President Trump left office, some members of the Defense Policy Board and Defense Business Council of the U.S. Department of Defense, including Kissinger, were replaced.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the U.S. policy of engagement with the CCP over the past decades as a complete failure. The result of the U.S. policy of “embracing the Chinese Communist Party” has been to feed the tiger and draw the wolf into the house, resulting in the U.S. being infiltrated by the Chinese Communist Party at all levels of politics, economics, media, education and society.
Since the Biden administration took office, the top brass of the CCP has repeatedly called for cooperation between the U.S. and China, refusing to decouple and using the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-China “ping pong diplomacy” to make peace with the United States.
In response, NPR quoted Orville Schell, director of the Center for U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society, a local think tank, as saying that there is now bipartisan pressure on President Joe Biden to curb China’s economic and military expansion.
Former President Trump has proven that the U.S. diplomatic “engagement policy” with the Chinese Communist Party is a failure, and it will be difficult for Biden to return to his old ways.
Xia Wei said the Chinese Communist Party’s power is vastly different than it was 50 years ago. Today, the Chinese military is modernizing rapidly, which is unmatched in the Mao years. Xi Jinping thus has what he calls “backbone. Xi is quite stubborn and will not necessarily compromise and befriend the West. But it is difficult to estimate how much more “ping-pong diplomacy” can do, and the problem is more difficult.
Veteran current affairs commentator Lin He Li believes that Beijing wants to extend an olive branch to the United States. But this move is simply impractical and useless. Because the relationship between China and the United States is no longer possible to return to the past, the speed and intensity of future competition between the two countries will only increase.
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