Only Kissinger Gets Loved in China
My latest for Politico.
The hard-working staff here at Spoiler Alerts will be attending a family function for the next few days. The younger, less mature version of me would have found ways to steal away from extended family to write a column or two. The older, more mature version of me wants to stay married appreciates my extended family and wants to savor those rare moments when we converge from all four corners of the Earth.
While I’m gone, please take this opportunity to listen to some Space the Nation podcasts. Out latest discusses the second half of the Apple+ show Silo (here’s a link to our discussion of the first half of that show). It turns out there was something amiss in that there silo! If you become a patron you’ll get early access to our forthcoming Hot Sci-Fi Summer series, in which we discuss the absurd trilogy that is Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, and Riddick.1
Also, please to read my latest for Politico, an analysis of Henry Kissinger’s latest trip to China and why it was such a mutual lovefest during a moment when official Sino-American relations could best be described as “strained.” Here are the nut paragraphs:
Why the lovefest? Mostly because it was in both China’s and Kissinger’s mutual interests to play nice. For China, it was an opportunity to suggest that they would respond better to U.S. policies that harkened back to Kissinger’s time. For Kissinger, the visit represents an opportunity to do what he has been trying to do ever since he left public office: maintain his relevancy and influence….
The Xi-Kissinger lovefest will not matter a whit when it comes to Sino-American relations. When Republicans are criticizing Biden for being soft on China, you know it’s an inhospitable political climate for China. Both Xi and Kissinger’s preference for a bygone era of Sino-American comity will matter little inside the Beltway. For at least a day, however, Chinese officials could reminisce about the era when the watchword was engagement, and Kissinger can smile that he has maintained his relevancy for yet another news media cycle.
Read the whole thing to see my fuller explanation.
One little anecdote I’ll add here that did not really fit into the Politico essay, which is that China’s love for Kissinger exceeds any other former U.S. official. Back in 2019 I attended the special fall meeting of the China Development Forum and wrote it up for the Washington Post, they broadcast a taped video message from Kissinger celebrating the 40th anniversary of the normalization of ties between the United States and China.
I was not surprised that they wanted a Kissinger video, but I was a bit surprised that there was nothing from Jimmy Carter. After all, he was the president who oversaw the normalization of ties — surely a taped video from him would have made sense. I remember bumping into a Carter Center official in attendance and got the sense from him that the Chinese simply did not put in the effort to woo Carter in the same way they did Kissinger — probably because the 39th president cares about human rights in a way that Kissinger does not.
Enjoy the weekend!
A fourth film is in the works and I confess that part of me hopes the title of that one is Just Riddick, to be followed Everything Riddick All At Once, and then closing out with Riddick: Tokyo Drift in which Vin Diesel only appears in it for a cameo.
Bombs away with Henry K. Clearly, he and ex Potus Nixon were mistaken with China
Closing out with Riddick: Good Riddance!