Kissinger concerned with Sino-US roles in new world order

Fu Ying and Kissinger talk in a forum themed "World Order and China's Role" in Beijing on Saturday. [Photo provided to china daily.com.cn]

Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger was in Beijing Saturday, where he emphasized the importance of understanding the roles between China and the United States.

He made the remarks at a conference promoting the release of the Chinese version of his book, World Order.

Kissinger stressed the idea of a new world order but remains uncertain at what the role will be for both countries.

"Everybody can know today that there has to an established international order, the minimum condition of which will be that no country that participates in it will be so dissatisfied that they prefer to use force rather than peaceful settlement," said Kissinger.

As to how to create a world order for the future, he said, "it is essential, I believe, and that is the point of my book, that China and the United States should come to an understanding that both sides agree to and both sides agree on what this world order will be like."

Kissinger went on to explain the challenges of achieving such understanding due to the differences of history and culture between the two countries.

"I must say that the biggest challenge, this is what I also say to American audience, is to understand how the Chinese think, and for Chinese to understand that Americans too are learning and that they sometimes apply traditional thinking to new circumstances," he said before calling for the two countries to shoulder the common task of addressing issues such as climate change, cybercrime and the threat of nuclear weapons.

Fu Ying, chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 12th National People's Congress, said in the forum on Saturday that China is part of the current world order that has attained important achievements, but some aspects of this world order excludes China or "even subtly regard China as a potential imaginary enemy".

"We need to be able to explain clearly to the world what we hope the future's world order will be like, how it is related to the current world order, and what kind of role we will play and things we can do in building the future's world order," she said.