The US and China should look to the example of former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平) when it comes to defusing Beijing’s territorial spats in the South China Sea, former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger said.
China and the US should “remove the urgency of the debate,” Kissinger, who first served during Richard Nixon’s presidency, told reporters on Saturday in Singapore.
Kissinger, 91, was the architect of Nixon’s historic 1972 trip to China that led to the opening of diplomatic ties between the two nations.
“Deng Xiaoping dealt with some of his problems by saying not every problem needs to be solved in the existing generation,” he said. “Let us perhaps wait for another generation, but let’s not make it worse.”
The US has assured its allies in Asia that it will back them amid tensions sparked by China’s claims to about four-fifths of the sea, through which some of the world’s busiest shipping lanes run.
China has escalated pressure on some Southeast Asian nations over the waters which are also contested in part by Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, Philippines and Malaysia.
Since coming to power in late 2012, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has crafted a more assertive foreign policy, as he seeks “great power” status alongside the US and challenges US military dominance in the region.
Xi has announced plans to rebuild the Silk Road overland trading route to Europe and to create a new maritime Silk Road across the Indian Ocean, alongside a new China-led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Last year, China parked an oil exploration rig near the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), setting off violent anti-China riots in Vietnam. China has hastened land expansion work on reefs in the South China Sea, despite protests from the Philippines.
Deng’s proposal meant that another generation would be better able to make decisions and negotiate once the immediate heat of disputes was reduced, said Carlyle Thayer, an emeritus professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra.
“Deng was right, not every problem can be solved, and claimants and their backers should not make matters worse,” he said.
“If Kissinger’s proposal were accepted, Deng’s wise counsel could save China’s face,” he said. “Once all claimants shelved claims for joint development ,this would ease an irritant in US-China relations.”
Kissinger’s reference to Deng’s could be read as an indirect criticism of Xi, said Rosita Dellios, an associate professor of international relations at Bond University on Australia’s Gold Coast.
“Better not to use an exemplar leader against whom Xi Jinping is measured,” she said. “Rather, encourage the current leader in his ‘China dream’ via the patient development of the maritime Silk Road which, when accomplished, will overshadow the South China Sea squabbles.”
Fresh talks between the world’s two largest economies could take place in the US as early as September, when US President Barack Obama and Xi are scheduled to meet.
China attaches “great importance” to relations with the US and wants enhanced cooperation to better manage “differences,” Xi told Kissinger when they met in Beijing earlier this month.
Speaking on Saturday at the Boao Forum for Asia on Hainan, the Chinese president talked of building a “regional order” that would be more beneficial to Asia.
“China will unshakeably stick to independent and autonomous peaceful diplomatic policies, stick to the peaceful development road, and stick to an open strategy of mutual beneficial and win-win, stick to the correct mindset of justice and benefits,” Xi said.
Any instability or war would not be in the best interests of the Chinese people, he said.
Xi’s efforts to expand the military are driven by a desire to modernize an army he believes cannot fight and win a war due to corruption, said Bo Zhiyue (薄智躍), a political science professor at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand.
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