Henry Kissinger, On China (Penguin Books, 2011, 623 pages, Rs. 699, Paperback)
Reviewed by Jigyasa Singla
On China is a non-fiction book written by Henry A. Kissinger that talks in detail about the author 's account of the history of China and the US-Sino relationship on a political level. Henry Kissinger was the key person in effecting President Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972, which initiated Sino-American relations after a hiatus of two decades. Kissinger’s arrival in Beijing quickly led to the reopening of relations between China and the United States of America. Henry Kissinger is known to be a great statesmen and a connoisseur of fine diplomacy, and was a Nobel Peace Laureate in 1973. He is best known for his works Diplomacy, World Order and On China.
Kissinger has made more than fifty trips to China in his lifetime and his book distils his unique experience and long study of China. Kissinger’s book On China is
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“That China and the United States would find a way to come together was inevitable given the necessities of the time. It would have happened sooner or later whatever the leadership in either country.” Kissinger draws on the Chinese game of wei qi, a patient contest of encirclement where checkmate is preferred over ultimate victory. Chinese strategists view the quest for a decisive outcome as illusory. Instead, they play a game of combative existence, seeking to improve their relative power position amid the ever changing forces of world politics. This is a perfect metaphor for Kissinger’s “balance of power.” With a firm conviction of permanent revolution, Mao Zedong’s courting of America was purely tactical, while Zhou Enlai’s was for a longer-lasting alliance; both felt the potential threat of Soviet expansion. Because he crossed the line in befriending imperialist America, Zhou fell from Mao’s grace and was replaced by Deng
Larry Berman's, No Peace, No Honor (Touchstone), argues that Richard Nixon wanted to be remembered as a great foreign policy president, however, his plans went array due to the Watergate scandal. Berman believes that with the aid of Henry Kissinger, President Nixon buried the truth about America's “honorable” pulling out of South Vietnam, thus leaving the South to fend off their northern counterparts. It is argued by Kissinger that the administration won the war and that it was Congress that lost it. Kissinger has said that it is evident that congress lost the war when they defunded any continued military activity that could have prevented the communist from taking over South Vietnam. Berman argues that Nixon and Kissinger both knew that with
In the 50s the advent of the Korean war was firmly implanted in minds of Australia’s, coinciding with the idea that communism had to be contained, on the presumption of US President Eisenhower’s Domino Theory. With China becoming a communist state, the spread of the communist ideology was an ever more imposing
Nixon learned from Kissinger that the Vietcong had strongholds in Cambodia so Nixon decide to extend the war into Cambodia and for a coup to get the Vietcong out. In Grandin’s book Kissinger mad the case that the war spreading into Cambodia meant the Vietcong had new hideouts and it would hurt the Vietnamization policy . Now the United States bombed North Vietnam and Cambodia. On page 71 in the foot note the Kissinger book even notes that the Vietcong in Cambodia were hiding in remote places but the US liked to attack the Cambodian Farmers to weaken the Vietcong . With the eventual end of the Vietnam War and with the Nixon Doctrine beginning peace with
The Korean War Chart Somebody ... Wanted ... But ... So ... North Korea Wanted to make sure the Korean peninsula into a Communist nation United states and nation Stopped them The Chinese joined the war on the Korean side and pushed the united states and nation back to the 38th parallel line General MacArthur To win china over before they became communist with the soviet union Wasn’t allowed to be a general anymore and he was ordered to stay the 20 mile mark We stayed away from china for the most part and failed to get them to become democracy President Truman To stop soviet expansion , the war, and the spread of communsim Americans didn’t want to go to war The war ended in a statement China To stay in the “safe zone” that way there were no interruptions in their reconstruction They feared that the united states would break into china if the us and south Korean were allowed into war China planned a surprise attack and defeated American troops
When Richard Nixon was president he established good connections with China and the Soviet Union. Nixon hated Communism and he was willing to visit China to restore peace. On February 21, 1972 Nixon went to China to make a long lasting relationship with the
Set in a fictitious country named Sarkhan in Southeast Asia, The Ugly American tells the tales of foreign diplomats, dignitaries, and humanitarians who attempt to implement or impose U.S. policies and customs onto sovereign nations. The backdrop for these exploits takes place during the time of Communist expansion in the region with the help of Russian and Chinese influence. The book shows how American behavior can positively and negatively influence the perception of its citizens and affect the outcome of American efforts. The authors illustrate the struggles America encountered in combating Communism and the strategies employed by our adversaries to allow it to flourish. The issues described in the book are as relevant today as they were almost 60 years ago when first written.
In the beginning of Ambrose’s article he opens up writing how unimportant Nixon was as president and how no one will remember him years from now but he also says Nixon was a very intelligent person and was able to get out of any problems he faced. When it came to pulling back the troops from Vietnam he didn’t do it immediately and sent the troops to a different area before he started to pull them out. The people against him stated that he lied about ending war immediately when he entered office while other agreed to the success of ending drafts and ending the war even if it took time to do it. Even though Nixon was against communism he decided to open the door to the Soviet and come up with a policy to control arms. This was something big because it had never happened before.
Being known for his foreign policy acted as a personal goal of Nixon during his presidency. A visit to China donoted something unlike any other president had done before, and it helped to developed Nixon’s credibility as a foreign policy leader. “It has been said that Nixon 's trip to China and its results mark the most significant achievement in U.S. foreign policy since the end of World War II, because it shifted the global balance of power in favor of the United States” (“The Richard M. Nixon Administrations”). Along with his visit to China to help promote Nixon’s popularity in foreign affairs, Nixon utilized
I will be writing about Richard Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974 when he became the only U.S. president to resign the office. I will be talking about his life before his presidency, during his presidency and life after his presidency. I will be talking about Nixon’s early political career as in life before he became the president. I will be talking about how Nixon was elected to be the U.S. Senate seat. Nixon was also chosen to be Vice President by Dwight Eisenhower.
When George Washington presented his farewell address, he urged our fledgling democracy, to seek avoidance of foreign entanglements. However, as the world modernized, and our national interests spread, the possibility of not becoming involved in foreign entanglements became impossible. The arenas of open warfare and murky hostile acts have become separated by a vast gray line. Even today, choosing when and how to use US military force remain in question. The concept of national isolationism failed to prevent our involvement in World War
On the other hand, it leaves a kind of profound thinking about the typical ordinary Chinese ideology and how great is the impact of such a decision on people’s
If people from China didn’t want to have warfare with Xiongnu and wanted to keep a peaceful relationship between each
In Document 6, it shows a towering Uncle Sam holding a key to China under a literal open door. This represents America being successful in trading with China (presumably because of the territorial gains of the Philippines), and being able to block other countries from trading with China. I should include this in my DBQ next time. Also, I can relate this to the Open Door Note, which was America’s way of trying to make sure no other country could dominate trade in China. This ties back into my argument of a political continuation because it supports America’s constant motivation to prevent other nations from dominating a region.
He was genuinely prominent, by authentic norms, amid his first term and had a surge of fame in the most recent year, in light of enhanced execution of the economy, the lessened part of American strengths in Vietnam, the China summit, and the moscow summit.(Pious 2002) The Federal Comparability Act, for instance required the president to present an arrangement for a boost in compensation for government representatives, Nixon declined to present an arrangement to congress. This demonstration was ruled unlawful by government court in National Treasury Employees Union v. Nixon(1974) Even however Nixon disregarded the laws he saw extraordinary chances to get together with different nations. Nixon and Kissinger saw an open door when furnished conflicted eject between the Soviets and the Chinese on the Sino-Soviet fringe, and Russian pioneers were criticizing China as a noteworthy adversary of the V.S.S.R. Nixon started sending signs to Beijing, unwinding exchange controls, permitting vacationer to enter China, and permitting grain deals to a constantly hungry
The transition of power in China changed the dynamics of post-World War II relations. For the United States, the so-called “Loss of China” was a a catastrophe, not only because the US supported Chiang Kai-shek in the last few years, but also because it seems to be a victory for the Soviet Union and the global Communism. For China, in 1949 started for the first time in its history the possibility to build foreign relations without being “suppressed by unequal treaties” by western powers. But China‘s relations to other countries remained very complicated and complex.