China US Photo: VCG

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has called on the incoming Biden administration to move quickly to restore lines of communication with China; otherwise, the world will slide into a catastrophe comparable to World War I. 

He believes that China and the US are "conducting their diplomacy in a confrontational way" and "the danger is that some crisis will occur that will go beyond rhetoric into actual military conflict."

We think that all sides need to take Kissinger's words as a sobering wake-up call, especially the US, which has been taking the initiative to disrupt China-US relations in recent years. Everyone needs to think carefully about what Kissinger had said. Does anyone really want what Kissinger predicts? If the answer is "no," then now is the time to take action to stop it from happening.

The most prominent conflicts between the US and China, in terms of trade, human rights, political systems, as well as issues over the South China Sea and the Taiwan question, are nothing new. But they have degenerated into irreconcilable conflicts. Globalization was supposed to provide more glue and lubricant for great-power relations, not the other way around.

It is understandable for the US to be wary of China's rise, but the action of pushing the US and China toward a new cold war is deeply etched in the Trump administration's impulsive and unprofessional way of handling the disputes between the great powers. History provides many options for addressing the disputes at this stage, but the Trump administration has chosen the worst and most irresponsible way to put humanity at risk of what Kissinger warns of. 

China is very reluctant to engage in a conflict with the US and has been making efforts to maintain the two countries' normal relations. All the "decoupling" and confrontation between the two are initiated by the US. What is happening is that many Chinese are increasingly pessimistic, and believe that the US wants to stifle China's development and will continue to provoke China in the Taiwan Straits and the South China Sea, and that some of America's allies in the region will cooperate with the US in doing so. To be precise, the Chinese people are also seriously preparing for a US-provoked war mentally and materially while striving for peace.

As Kissinger said, China and the US need to restore lines of communication frayed during the Trump tenure. The two sides need to understand each other's strategic intentions and set rules and bottom lines in order to avoid catastrophic collisions after undergoing the trade war, shutdown of each other's consulates, expulsion of journalists and various mutual sanctions.  

Be it in academic circles or public opinion in both countries, most people believe China-US relations are likely to see a significant improvement. No matter whether such an analysis is reasonable or not, it's imperative to prevent the two countries from slipping into sharper confrontation, which is also in line with the expectations of both peoples. If Biden and his team heed Kissinger's suggestions, China and the US will meet each other half way and withstand the test of public will and history.   

We hope US allies will also heed Kissinger's warning and not go too far in assisting the US in containing China. Otherwise, once what Kissinger said happens, those allies will be like grass under the feet of fighting elephants.  

We want to tell the Chinese people that facing severe and complex situations, we need to have two strings to our bow. We are a powerful nuclear country, and we do not take the initiative to start a war. It will be an extremely difficult choice for any force, including the US, to impose a war on us. Such confidence may make us neither impulsive, nor timid, in face of threats.  

We should do our own thing seriously and strengthen our belief in peaceful development. We should not pursue the idea of teaching the US a good lesson. But there is also no need for us to be afraid of any provocation or pressure. China is such a powerful country. Is there anything we should be afraid of? China's trouble will also be the trouble of its challengers. We are willing to make sincere efforts to avoid troubles together. There is also another option for China, that is, to let nature take its course.