Editor's Note: The following are excerpts of a recent interview posted on the Xiakedao WeChat account with Zheng Yongnian, a professor of politics with the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), on former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger's visit to China last week:
Kissinger worries that Sino-US relations, if they continue on the current trend, may slide toward war in five to 10 years. Of course we don't think so, but this is true from the Western experience. The visits senior US officials paid to China recently are all important. But these visits and the issues they touched upon do not change the key factor of the relations between China and the United States.
In the past, the key factor for the US and the Soviet Union to really sit down to negotiate was nuclear weapons, and mutual nuclear deterrence built a "cold peace". The basis for real negotiations between China and the US now, Kissinger believes, is artificial intelligence technology.
Neither China nor the US can afford a war with each other, as that would be a disaster to not only themselves but also the whole world. So both find it necessary to keep the communication channels open at this moment. The high-level meetings between the Chinese leadership and Kissinger were to send a positive signal that China is willing to engage in dialogue and restore stability to the world order, and China will continue to play its role in peaceful development.
Beijing should have a correct understanding of the US. The domestic and foreign affairs of the US are holistic. The US is now almost engaged in a "witch hunt" when it comes to China. How can there be any rational cognition, or correct understanding of China, something Beijing urges Washington to have, when it has this state of mind?
As the US regards China as an adversary, the major think tanks in the country are focusing their research power on China. This has caused many people who do not understand China to study China relying on so-called big data, and those who really understand China are labeled as "pro-China" and excluded from the key circle.
As such, China must display strategic composure, and it should not become the Soviet Union or the US, but pursue a path of rise with Chinese characteristics. The three global initiatives on security, development and civilization it put forward are very good and should be adhered to accordingly.