The 97-year-old former secretary of state said peaceful relations between the U.S. and China could continue if policies were enacted to restrain China's dominance in the tech sector.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger cautioned against the U.S. and China escalating into an "All-out," high-tech conflict. In an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt, the 97-year-old national security veteran said peaceful relations between the countries could continue if policies were enacted to restrain China's dominance in the tech sector. Kissinger said that while China must not have the upper hand in the tech arena, the U.S. must also keep up on its end to maintain its own capabilities. Kissinger spoke of President Joe Biden's administration trying to maintain the bilateral relationship but said he felt the American public opinion has become convinced that China is "An inherent enemy," and many people as a whole favored some form of confrontation. Kissinger acknowledged the precariousness of relations between the U.S. and China. His role in Sino-American relations is seen as particularly important during the Nixon administration when he aided with Nixon's 1972 trip to China. Kissinger later wrote on Chinese history in regards to foreign diplomacy in his 2011 book On China.