Kissinger the Negotiator by James K. Sebenius

Author:James K. Sebenius
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-04-11T04:00:00+00:00

Two Chinese Leaders: Mao and Zhou

Kissinger’s views of a pair of pivotal Chinese figures, Mao and Zhou, help us zoom in even further. After Kissinger’s two preliminary visits to China, he sought to prepare Nixon for his upcoming trip to China on February 21, 1972, the first by an American president. Nixon was certain to deal primarily with Mao and Zhou.11

Kissinger’s preparatory memo offered Nixon a comparative overview of the two men, turning first to Mao: “A convenient distinction between Mao and Zhou . . . is to cite the Chairman as the philosopher and Zhou as the practitioner. Thus we can think of Mao as the philosopher, the poet, the grand strategist, the inspirer, the romantic. He sets the direction and the framework and leaves the implementation to his trusted lieutenant. He can be counted on to speak in broad, philosophic, historic terms and leave the negotiations to Zhou. He will want to talk about the long view, the basic tides running in the world, where China and the U.S. are heading, with each other and with others.”12

Turning to Zhou Enlai, Kissinger summarized his role and personality: “Zhou is the tactician, the administrator, the negotiator, the master of details and thrust and parry. His emphasis will be on the concrete substantive issues and he will invoke the Chairman’s authority and prescience with what seems total sincerity. However, this distinction between the two men can be misleading. Zhou is perfectly at home on the philosophic plane, and he couches his tactical arguments in historical and conceptual terms . . . Zhou is clearly running China. He is the dominant figure in both the party and the government, and he steers both foreign and domestic policy.”13

Leavening his initial characterization of Mao (“poet, philosopher,” etc.), Kissinger reminded Nixon of the Chinese leader’s toughness and the daunting challenges he had surmounted: “Mao can be as ruthlessly pragmatic as he is ideologically fanatic . . . after all, in the past half-dozen years, a whole string of his closest associates have been declared guilty of the most serious crimes and whisked out of sight—including two hand-picked heirs and his personal secretary. . . . [A]gain and again, [Mao] has faced one towering crisis after another—the annihilation campaigns of Chiang, Long March, Japanese invasion, civil war with the Nationalists, Korean War, Great Leap Forward, split with Moscow, Cultural Revolution, progressive Soviet encirclement. Surmounting such challenges requires vision as well as tactics . . . Mao’s peasant background is evident in his direct and earthy humor, which he often used to ridicule or disarm opponents.”14

Kissinger then offered Nixon more detailed advice, anticipating Zhou’s approach to negotiation and making suggestions for how to deal with it most effectively. A number of excerpts from the preparatory memo are worth recounting to illustrate this point: “[Zhou] is charming, articulate and tough. . . . You can be sure that he has done his homework, not only on the issues, but also on America and you personally. . . . His negotiating style is extremely effective and requires finesse to counter.

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