Kissinger: China poses no threat in foreseeable future
( 2001-07-05 10:15 ) (8 )

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said that China poses no threat to the United States in the foreseeable future and it would be wrong for Washington to openly advocate a confrontational strategy towards the country.

Kissinger, in a PBS interview Monday on his latest book "Does America Need a Foreign Policy," said that he is opposed to placing China into the niche of former Soviet Union and launching another crusade against it as some of America's conservative politicians suggested in recent days.

"To select China in advance as our principle enemy and slide it into the position vacated by the Soviet Union, I think would have the paradoxical effect of isolating us in Asia; nobody will join us," he said.

Kissinger stressed that China would not have the means to become an aggressor in the next 15 to 20 years. "Look at the military budget. The Chinese military budget is announced, it's US$12 billion a year in 1999... (but) Ours is US$350 billion. The Japanese is US$49 billion," Kissinger noted.

"So they are not in any position to threaten to push us out of the Western Pacific, as some people claim. I also don't think that 's their intention," he added.

Kissinger complained that the US has not yet set up the strategic objective on its China policy and therefore failed "to define what the exact purpose of this strategy is."

Referring to the Taiwan issue, Kissinger reiterated his support for continued implementation of the one-China policy which he thought enables the United States "to continue the status quo without having to defend it by military means."

He also warned against sale of weapons "that seem to tie Taiwan into the American command system in such a way that it amounts to making it independent."

On the Korean peninsular, Kissinger said that the United States should "stay in step" with South Korea no matter what happens in its relationship with North Korea so as to prevent South Korea from being "left in a limbo."

In the interview, Kissinger also agreed with prediction that Russia is on its way back to becoming a great power.

"If you look at Russian history, they have gone through similar periods before and have usually recovered faster than anyone thought they could, and I think that possibility exists again," he said.

Kissinger described Europe as America's "historic friend that is in too many cases attempting to achieve its identity by presenting itself as a rival."

He conceded that the establishment of the European Union's defense force independent of and not coordinated with NATO would become "a political challenge."

He also expressed his jitters about a recent remark by Peterson, the Swedish prime minister and current rotating head of the European community, in which the European leader declared that the purpose of the European Union is to break the dominance of the United States.

"If that becomes the dominant trend, which we should do our utmost to prevent, it (Europe) will become a rival, and that would be unfortunate for both sides of the Atlantic," Kissinger said.

The former US Secretary of State and world-known strategist also said he did not favor military intervention in Kosovo, because that intervention will "lead to tremendous pressures for independence of Kosovo."

"I was in favor of autonomy for Kosovo, but I thought that was achievable by other means," he said.

"There were various Balkan wars fought about this at the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century that -- and in a way, by intervention earlier, we contribute to replaying this," Kissinger said.