全球领导力 Global Leadership

Author:Liu weiping Tsinghua EMBA student, the class leader of
Global Leadership

Email:ceo@uvn.cn

Chapter XV. Everything is surprising in present China. Dr. Kissinger
--- former U.S. Secretary of State

--- The Global Leadership,
Course Eleven

I like Chinese people and Chinese leaders. But we should not be personal when making long-term policies but be focused on interests.

I think Chinese and American interests are similar. Confrontation between the two countries will not bring about any benefits. The U.S. should not choose confrontation, but neither should China. Actually, both sides have recognized that.

Personally, I think that the current Sino-American relationship is better than at any other time in history, which is largely attributable to the far-sighted opinions and views of Chinese leaders on the Sino-American relationship. Sometimes, Chinese leaders look at the Sino-American relationship with a far-sighted attitude that some of

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our leaders might find incomprehensible.

The first principle is that the U.S. should uphold the "One China" policy. Second, Taiwan should exercise restraint. It should not always give other the impression that it is challenging the One China policy. Third, is that Mainland China should understand that the U.S. is very concerned about the cross-Strait relationship across and hopes to let history be the judge and to let the relationship evolve in its own way.

--- Dr. Kissinger --- former U.S.

Secretary of State

Henry Alfred Kissinger was born on 27 May 1923 in Fuerth, Germany. He is a son of a Jewish couple. His family moved to the U. S. in 1938, and he became a citizen of the U.S. in 1943. He served in the U.S. army from 1943 to 1946. He graduated from Harvard University in 1950, got an M.A. in 1952 and a PhD degree in 1954. He was the executive director of the International Relations Seminar of Harvard University, the director, lecturer, associate professor and professor of the Research Center for International Affairs of Harvard University from 1951 to 1969.

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From 1969 to 1974, Dr. Kissinger served as the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. From 1973 to 1977, he served as the Secretary of State. Later on, he became a guest professor at Georgetown University, consultant to ABC (American Broadcasting Company), the president of the International Consultation Committee of Chase Manhattan Bank, senior researcher of Aspen Institute, along with other positions. In 1982, he established Kissinger International Consulting and served as the president of the company. In 1983, he was a news analyst for ABC. From 1983 to 1984, he served as the Chair of the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America. In September 1986, he became the president of the American-Indian Committee. In March 1987, he became one of the two presidents of the American-China Association.

Dr. Kissinger has written many books, including Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy (1957), The Necessity for Choice (1961), The Troubled Partnership (1965), White House Years (1979), For the Record: Selected Statements (1981), Years of Upheaval (1982), etc.

Dr. Kissinger was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Price in 1973. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977.

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In July 1971, Kissinger visited China as the special envoy of President Nixon, making a historical contribution to the beginning of Sino-American relations. In February 1972, he accompanied Nixon to China. For many years, he has always been interested in and supported the development of Sino-American relations.

Global Leadership is soon to be published, and Professor Thornton has provided us a chance to communicate with Dr. Kissinger face to face. As a result, we postponed publishing this book so that the communication between Dr. Kissinger and the students can be included in the book and shared with the readers.

On June 16th, 2004 (Wednesday), a drizzling and refreshing day that is rare in early-summer Beijing, the students of the Global Leadership course waited in Shunde building wearing formal suits. At nine o'clock sharp, the 81-year-old Kissinger, accompanied by Thornton, arrived at Tsinghua University according to the schedule. He is an average American, energetic and kind. Undoubtedly, he is also an extraordinary statesman, who has visited China many times since his trip to China as a special envoy of President Nixon in 1971 and thus opening the door for the Sino-American relationship. He has witnessed the development of China as well as its rise. This great figure, who played an outstanding role in the world political arena in the old days, has been connected with China in innumerable ways.

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During the precious time from nine o'clock to twelve o'clock, we discussed with Dr. Kissinger the progress in development that China has made, the present global political and economic configuration and the impact of the Internet on the world, etc. In addition, we gave Dr. Kissinger a souvenir of Tsinghua University as a present after the class.

Thornton: Good morning! I am very happy to see you here. Today is a very unique day. I think you probably know that today is going to be a historical moment, because it is a great honour for us to invite my friend Dr. Kissinger to meet you in this classroom. I needn't tell you who Dr. Kissinger is. You are all Chinese and know very well about him. It has been many years since he became a friend of the Chinese people. We can say that Dr. Kissinger, President Nixon, Premier Zhou Enlai and Chairman Mao Zedong have jointly altered the course of history.

Of course, there are some more interesting, more important parts about him. Since a long time ago, he has formed a habit of making friends with students, with youngsters. You may know that many years ago, he chaired a seminar at Harvard attended by many outstanding youngsters from all parts of the world. In this way, he wanted to listen to the different voices of young people from

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different countries, and he also answered the questions raised by these young people. And this is the reason why the Doctor can always keep connected with the real world and with the future leaders of society.

A month ago, I met Dr. Kissinger in New York, and he told me that he knew that I am teaching in Tsinghua University, and he would like to meet outstanding youngsters from the future leadership generation of China. For today's class, we will first invite Dr. Kissinger to say a few words. Then we will have a Q&A session. Dr. Kissinger has a great interest in listening to your opinions. He hopes to listen to your ideas, and he will exchange his own opinions with you. I hope that our dialogue will be about the future of China, in particular, how you think about the future of China. You are young and outstanding Chinese, and I hope that your questions will not disappoint me. Ok, are you ready? Let us activate our brains and have a very interesting dialogue with Dr. Kissinger.

Dr. Kissinger: Thank you very much, thank you Thornton. He praised me a lot just now. Thornton told me that I would be meeting the future leaders of China when I came here, that is you. Thornton told me also that you are all very outstanding youngsters in China, future leaders, so I feel very honoured to see you here. In fact, I do not have many contacts with Chinese young people, because I always find my time limited. I have many things to do. But I also want very much to know what is in the minds of Chinese young people.

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Before I came this time, Thornton did not tell me that I was going to make a speech, so I did not prepare, but I can tell you two things. One is some of my general opinions about political leaders, because I am always keeping in touch with them. Second is some comments on Chinese leaders that I have met with.

I think any political leader must face certain challenges. First, he must know what problems he should tackle. Then, he should know what these problems really are and what the objectives are that he wants to meet. It seems very simple for me to say that, and it is obvious, but in practice, it is very complicated.

Over the last two decades, I have been keeping in touch with China. Twenty years ago, some believed that China's political system must be changed, otherwise it was no use to negotiate with China. Twenty years ago, Americans and many other foreigners had ideas on how to isolate Chinese, how to isolate its government, and then how to force China to change its system. However, President Nixon said, "We should not work this way. China is a great nation with time-honoured history. We should get in touch with the Chinese." Then, Nixon considered how to get in touch with the Chinese and what were the objectives of such contact.

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When faced with problems, every political leader must make a decision. If the actions taken by these leaders, and the ideas they have, are the same as those held by other people, there will be a danger. But if he keeps a distance from the concerns of average people and cares too much about interests, there will be a danger, too. Therefore, for President Nixon, it was a challenge to define the objective of the contact with China and how to reach this objective.

President Nixon and I both wanted to contact China, but at the beginning, we did not know what to do, because at that time, there was no Chinese embassy in the U.S. Then we thought that the embassy of another communist country in the U.S. might pass the message to the Chinese, but there was no response. Then what did Mao Zedong do? He asked a journalist named Snow to pass a message to the Americans, a friendly message to us. Of course, at that time, we did not believe the propaganda of the communists, so at the beginning, we did not believe the friendly expression of Chairman Mao. So the problem was how to get in touch with China and how to convey the message through the channel.

You present here all know that, as a leader, it is not enough for you to give an order. You must have subordinates to execute your order. More importantly, as a leader, you should be aware that some responsibilities should be given to your subordinates; otherwise, you pay too much attention to details.

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Many things happened during the first year of my term as Secretary of State.
This may not be the case in China, but in the U.S., we need to get support from
the people, the government should make efforts, and finally, we need to
dispatch diplomatic envoys to other countries to implement American foreign
policies. This is to say, we need to understand the ideologies of different
countries, their ways of thinking. In our history books, or some of the
publications, diplomatic relations are usually described as a process of
interacting with wisdom, and the U.S. should outperform its counterparts in
displaying wisdom. Of course, you can look at the issue from another angle,
because dealing with foreign policies is the same as dealing with relationships
between big companies. It is interaction between people; that is to say,
trustworthiness and credit are very important. We should not say that we must
display wisdom with them, because if you say that you are smarter than your
counterpart, you will not be trusted anymore. Even if you win this time and
deceive your counterpart, you can not deceive them the next time.

I knew nothing about China when I came here for the first time. My major was
in European relations, and I did not have sufficient time to make preparations
because I was making a secret visit. Before I came, I stayed at Harvard
University for a day. I invited some professors and listened to them to know
more about China. But in fact, I knew more about China than they did.

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When I met Premier Zhou Enlai for the first time, I prepared a very long speech and I read on and on. Then Zhou Enlai said to me, "May I interrupt you for a second? Why is China a mysterious country? Did you say that China is a mysterious country?" And I answered, "It is really mysterious." But Premier Zhou said: "We have so many people, and it cannot be and is not a secret!"

During my contacts with Chinese leaders, I have learned a lot. Chinese statesmen have left very deep impressions upon me. Firstly, I think Chinese leaders have plenty of information. Their information about me was more sufficient than my information about them. I had never heard of some of the newspapers they read, and I did not know how they could get them, because at that time, there was no diplomatic relationship between the two countries. I really did not know how they got to know us. Secondly, I used to think that all the communists were the same, so I adopted the same approach as I had to the former Soviet Union when contacting China, but the approach that the Chinese leaders adopted was more courteous and more elegant.

When I first came to China, we had a time limitation for the stay. We thought about producing a communiqué. Premier Zhou asked, "How should we write the communiqué?" I answered, "Let us write down our own thoughts and then see how we can reach a balance." Zhou Enlai responded, "We are not going to

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write down anything, we are simply here to air our opinions. You tell me what is
your bottom-line, what you want, then I will tell you what is my bottom-line,
and we can see how we make the draft." Then we exchanged views for the
following three hours, and Premier Zhou said: "I know what you mean. We will
write a draft and meet you at ten o'clock tomorrow." It was one o'clock in the
morning then, and I said yes to his suggestion. But after that, I said to myself,
"What did I do? I must leave Beijing before twelve o'clock." Maybe Zhou Enlai
wanted to give me a sense of urgency by setting the time at ten o'clock. This
was my first contact with Premier Zhou, and he left me with a profound
impression.

After that, I had many meetings with Chinese leaders. My strategy for dealing
with the Chinese was not to be too proud. My job was to explain to the Chinese
what my objective really was, what was my real intention, and what was my
real thought. I think Chinese leaders had very profound thinking. For example,
Chairman Mao had a very distinct personality and very strong analytical ability.
He was able to talk with me for a very long time on any topics whatever. Zhou
Enlai behaved more elegantly. He was milder when talking with me. Deng
Xiaoping was more direct. They were all people who held China together. They
all talked about politics, and they were all statesmen.

When I first visited China in 1971, probably most of you were not very old. At

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that time, there were no cars on the avenues, the roads were bad, there were
no traffic jams and there were not many consumption goods or western
restaurants. However, everything is surprising in present-day China. If
somebody asks me, "Do you know what present-day China is like?" I will answer,
"Unimaginable." You all know that today many foreign companies are investing
in China. They all want to get big orders from China and sign contracts with
remarkable amount of money. This favourable environment is created by China
itself. Chinese people made these achievements without the assistance of
foreign countries or suggestions from foreigners.

The Sino-American relationship is always fluctuating because the Taiwan issue
is hindering the development of relations between the two countries. But we
are also amazed to see that for several generations, Chinese leaders have all
held a consistent position and policy towards the U.S. Isn't it surprising? From
the U.S. side, we have had seven presidents since the 1970s. When a new
president is sworn in, he wants very much to know more about China But
probably he gets to know China from the beginning because his previous
understanding of China was not complete or thorough. Nearly every new
president has to rethink American policy towards China. We know that there
have been fluctuations in the Sino-American relationship. The present American
president's policy towards China is different from his previous policy.

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Personally, I think that the current Sino-American relationship is better than at any other time in history, which is largely attributable to the far-sighted and views of Chinese leaders on the Sino-American relationship. Sometimes, Chinese leaders look at the Sino-American relationship with a far-sighted attitude that some of our leaders might find incomprehensible.

When I met Chairman Mao for the first time, he said to me, "Let me tell you a little story. A Romanian envoy visited China and told me that China and Romania should improve our relations with the Soviet Union, because we are all communist countries. I said that I was willing to keep a good relationship with the Soviet Union, but if the Soviet Union is not very friendly, we are ready to fight with them for ten thousand years. The Romanian said the duration of the fighting should be reduced by a small margin to 7000 years. I said that my bottom-line was to reduce the duration only another 1000 years." This is what Chairman Mao told me at that time. He said, "Every concession that I make is 1000 years. I am ready to reduce the fighting with the Soviet Union by 1000 years." Chairman Mao was not a person who would readily make concessions. What were his true intentions? It probably took a very long time for China to mend its relations with other countries. This is a historical view, but a long-term view should be adopted to address this issue. Chairman Mao and American leaders both became aware that the two countries should engage in cooperation. China has a time-honoured history during which many tragedies

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and vicissitudes happened. For me, China is really a fascinating country. I see
the stability and reliability of China's policies.

Q: I am an MBA student from the School of Economics and Management of Tsinghua University. Professor Kissinger, I have read some of your books on diplomacy. You said that 20 years ago Chairman Mao told President Nixon, "China will not take Taiwan back by force. However, if Taiwan forces us, we have to do that". Today, if there were drastic changes regarding the Taiwan issue and the Chinese people had to use force, what do you think President Bush would do? Just now you mentioned that Chairman Mao would be willing to wait for ten thousand years, but the problem is that today's young people will not wait that long.

Kissinger: I have never thought about this question before. Indeed, our relationship with Taiwan is an important issue in Sino-American relations.

Americans think that the relationship between the mainland and Taiwan should be an evolutionary and gradual one. I believe Americans know some Chinese traditions, and I think when handling the Taiwan issue, China should follow three or more principles, which will be beneficial to everybody. As a matter of

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fact, if Chinese were to go to war, both sides would have to pay a high price.

The first principle is that the U.S. should uphold the "One China" policy. Second, Taiwan should exercise restraint. It should not always give others the impression that it is challenging the "One China" policy. Third, Mainland China should understand that the U.S. is very concerned about the cross-Strait relationship and hopes to let history be the judge and to let the relationship evolve in its own way.

I know the economic ties between the two sides are closer and closer, and China is becoming more and more modernized and an important power in the international arena. Therefore, I believe there are bound to be some changes in the cross-Strait relationship. I also hope that both sides address problems through negotiations and dialogue. I often mention the above three principles when I meet Chinese leaders. I tell them that as long as such principles are followed, armed conflicts will be avoided.

Q: Good morning, Mr. Kissinger! I am an MBA student. I am very honored to come to your speech, and I have three questions.

First question: on June 14th, Mr. Bush signed a bill to support Taiwan in its bid to obtain observer status in the World Health Organization. In a formal statement,

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Mr. Bush claimed that according to the American Constitution, the US government was entitled to keep confidential sensitive information that affects diplomacy and national security. Is it conceivable that the US is secretively supporting Taiwan independence or peaceful independence? On February 28th of 1972, China and the US signed the Sino-US Joint Communiqué and established the "One China" policy. Has the Bush administration changed this policy now?

Second, if the U.S. divides its national interests into three categories: the fundamental, which mean life or death for the country; the important interests; and the general ones, to what category do US interests in Taiwan belong? In what aspects does the US have interests in Taiwan?

Third, if Taiwan really declared independence and war broke out across the Strait, I would like to know your prediction. Will US forces be directly involved in the fight against the PLA, or just like now, will it be indirectly involved by supplying Taiwan with weapons and intelligence?

I also would like to ask, what best efforts should be made by the US and China so as to avoid war? Thanks!

Kissinger: For your first question, which is related to the issue of observer

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status in the WHO, I don't think the US should be entrapped by such an issue;
that is to say, the US should have a bottom line in place, and it should not go
beyond that.

In 1971 when I first came to China, we also stressed that we would push
forward a solution based on one China, and we would not support a one China,
one Taiwan formula. Of course we have three communiqués, which are the
benchmark and basis for our policy. We cannot go beyond them. This is our
general standpoint. Of course at times we did transcend the bottom line, but I
think this was not intentional. We should not do that either.

Your second question is about what are US fundamental interests. They are
similar to China's. China is a great country, having a long history and a
population of over a billion diligent and intelligent people. So US fundamental
interests are to keep good relations with China. One fact beyond our
imagination is that if China doesn't advance, neither does Asia. Moreover, to
safeguard its own interests, China also has to keep on good terms with the US.
Confrontation will make all the work we have done vanish, and our objectives
unreachable. A close Sino-US relationship conforms to the interests of both
sides.

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making long-term policies but be focused on interests. I think Chinese and American interests are similar. Confrontation between the two countries will not bring any benefits. The U.S. should not choose confrontation, but neither should China. Actually, both sides have recognized that.

And your third question is about what the US will do if there is a war. That depends on who is in office. In fact, war would mean that we both have failed. I have talked many times about what is Asia's problem. Here we have a change in world power, a shift from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Look at the world of the 1990s. We find that many conflicts can be curbed or avoided if China and the US work together. I have never envisioned how a war would be fought. It is actually a fight between a **whale** and an elephant, and I don't know what will happen once it breaks out. We must avoid it, unless some one makes a stupid mistake. I strongly hold that China's reunification is an inevitable outcome.

I think if everybody keeps wise, China's reunification is inevitable.

Q: Thanks for your points on the Taiwan issue. I am an MBA student from BP.

Today's lecture should be part of the global leadership program, so we can come to discuss about leadership. I heard one day from one of my classmates that if Dr. Kissinger were American, he could also have been a great US.

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President. Do you think so? Or I can put my question in this way: what quality
should a person have if he is to be a great president?

President Reagan passed away several days ago, and now the media is ranking
US presidents to see which president is the greatest. Since president Nixon
seems to have gotten a rather low grade, I would like to hear your comments
on him. You know, president Nixon kept a fairly good relationship with China, so
I think he is well received here, at least better than President Bush, I mean
junior Bush. And I also want to have your ideas on President Kennedy and
Clinton.

Kissinger: Now I have to talk about that on a personal basis. I think Nixon was
an outstanding president. Why? When he appointed me as his national security
advisor, he didn't even know me and had not met me in person. But still he did
that, and don't you think that was unthinkable? Who would do that like him?
Appointing a person he didn't know as his security advisor? And I even opposed
him before I became his assistant. When he first appointed me I told him, "You
might be unaware that we haven't got on well, because I have even opposed
you, and I need a week to think about it". He said, "Ok, take a week and think
about it. But don't think too much, or you will not be able to come back to
reality. Is it all right that you do something just because a president has told
you to? Actually, didn't I make a heavier gamble asking for you as the security

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advisor? Why are you worried so much?" It was true. An incompetent security advisor would ruin a president because he has to provide ideas and recommendations on many issues, and in fact many arrangements are made by the advisor. So personally I respect president Nixon very much. Of course I don't think he was a perfect man.

Nixon took over the Vietnam War, which was not waged by him. But he had to deal with the war when he took office. And those Americans who had once started the war were now for peace. Actually it was they who had sent 500,000 US troops to Vietnam, a country, you know, so faraway from America. The President had the courage to handle the war, to knock at the door of China and to negotiate with the former Soviet Union. And he also had his own views on the Middle East issue.

As a person, he had a sense of insecurity. When he gave orders, he always wrote them down; he did not give them in person. I think sometimes it might be a weakness for an administrative executive.

And I know all the presidents you mentioned. I should say they seemed more charming than Nixon and me, but they were not really great thinkers, at least not comparable to Nixon in terms of being a thinker. All decisions made by Nixon were great and strategic.

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You asked what quality should a US president possess. Well, this is a
fundamental issue. It is basically impossible to be a good American president,
both as chief of state and government leader. In China, you have these two
separated while we combine them into one. An American president has to take
care of all aspects of state affairs; he has to manage the government and has to
lead the state. Under our system, the president has to maintain good
communication with the public, because the media is watching him 24 hours a
day. Apart from this, the president also has his cabinet. I think a successful
American president really needs a kind of special comprehensive quality.

President Kennedy indeed was very charming and smart, very humorous as
well, but he seemed not very resolute. Clinton was also smart, but he always
wanted to do 50 things at a time, that is, he was not so attentive.

In fact it is really difficult to find all qualities in a person, because being an
American president is a hard job. In short, an unworthy person cannot be a
good American president, for at last he will be lost.

Q: Good morning, Dr. Kissinger! I was born in 1971 when you came to China.
Over three decades later, I am really privileged to see such an important
historical figure as you in Tsinghua.

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Just now we have talked about many topics, all of them about the Sino-US
relationship. And my question is, what are the problems with the Chinese
government in the relationship between the two countries? How can we do
better to improve the relationship? Thank you!

Kissinger: That is a very good question. I think a very important thing for China and Chinese leaders is to understand Americans' way of thinking and how the US responds to some incidents. That will take some time.

My common impression of all the Chinese leaders I have met is that they are
very careful in doing their jobs, and they know their own field very well. But
what they always don't know is American mentality and culture. Although I
don't often get together with Chinese young people, as far as I know, Chinese
young people know the US better than their American counterparts know China,
because many Americans have not been to China.

Q: Good morning, Dr. Kissinger! I am greatly honored to have the opportunity to discuss some questions with you. 15 years has passed since the June 4th incident happened. When we review it today, the vast majority of Chinese people and Chinese scholars think that the measures taken by the Chinese

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government then were timely and resolute. If such measures had not been taken, there would not have been today's good social and economic development. To a vast and populous country like China, stability is of overriding importance. Without it, there is no economic development to talk about in China. Only on the basis of stability, can we develop our economy well before promoting democratization gradually. This is in accordance with the Chinese national situation.

And my question is, how do you comment on the incident today? Is your comment now different from the ones of 15 years ago?

Kissinger: It was very shocking to many Americans then. Because they didn't know the truth and just watched the television scenes, they were very shocked. But I knew at that time China faced a dilemma.

In 1989, I got to know Deng Xiaoping. I respect and appreciate him very much. I think he was a great reformer. Without him, China would not have achieved so much today. I can't imagine what China could be like without his efforts. But at that time many in the American media said that he had suppressed freedom and democracy. Of course I know he was not such a person. In addition, Deng had even told me that he would protect China's reform, but how could he promote the reform specifically? It was a dilemma.

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You have asked me a question, and can I also ask you one? Now it has come
the fourth generation of Chinese leaders. When I first came to China,
everybody was wearing Sun Yat Sen-style uniforms, reading Quotations of
Chairman Mao and talking about ideology. Now there are great changes. All of
you are wearing suits and China is fairly industrialized. And I have known some
Chinese young persons and realized that the Internet is very popular in China.
While in my youth people read books, now people are using the Net and
becoming more and more dependent on it. How will the above changes affect
China's politics? How will the next generation of Chinese look on the political
issues in China? I am very open-minded in this respect and I have no prejudice,
so I would like to hear your ideas. I will not tell you what you should do and
what you should not. I won't do that. I want to know how you consider such
great changes in your country. I think your Chinese leaders are also asking the
same question. You can air your views freely.

Q: Thanks, Dr. Kissinger. So honored to have the chance to see you. Like many students here, I will be a leader of an industry, or a leader of a company, so my question is about commerce.

If we compare Chinese and American companies, we can find that their
American counterparts will outshine even the biggest Chinese companies. In

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your opinion, what is the biggest difference between Chinese and American
entrepreneurs? What are the distinctions in their way of thinking and the
distinctions in their ways of behavior?

Kissinger: I have met many American businessmen but don't know much about Chinese ones. So I'd like to hear your observations.

Q: Personally, I think the major differences lie in the way of thinking. Chinese entrepreneurs don't have enough understanding of the global situation or sufficient knowledge of people's way of thinking in other places of the world.

Kissinger: But neither can I say that American entrepreneurs know the thinking of their colleagues in other countries. One of them has said to me that they wanted to invest in a country. And he asked me to call the leaders of that country and say something good for him. This shows that this man didn't know about politics.

As far as I know, no state leaders will receive a call from a foreigner, except
from a country with very good friendship. If you want to exert your impact in
the country, you have to get in touch with some grass roots people and then do
some work in a bottom up way. The biggest weakness of American business is
that they actually don't know such basic principles. For example, when they

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come to Beijing, they want to meet the Chairman in the morning and play golf
in the afternoon, and then go back. I don't know much about Chinese
businessmen. I don't think American businessmen are better in knowing other
countries than their Chinese counterparts. A lot of Chinese businessmen told
me that they also hoped to influence a county, but personally I think if Chinese
businesses want to become bigger and global, they have to learn, to learn the
way of thinking and the history of different countries, as well as how to exert
their influence.

What impact do you think the Internet will have in China? Could you answer
this question?

Q: As everybody can see, the Internet did change people's lives greatly. People communicate, talk, go shopping and do business through the Internet. In the future, people can order some video programs on the Net. Indeed it is a useful instrument. It has greatly changed our life.

I would like to say something about the topic we just discussed. I think if a
Chinese company wants to become one of the top 500 in the world, it has to
remove another barrier, that is the human factor. If a business wants to be the
most successful and the biggest in the world, it must have the most excellent
staff. Now many companies have international staff, from all over the world, but

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I think that might undermine the competitiveness of the company because the cost is too high.

Q: I am an MBA student and I have two questions. This is Mr. Thornton's global leadership course and you are a successful global leader. So when you look back on your life, what do you think are the most outstanding qualities you have? That is the first question.

Second question, you have done a lot in American domestic and international affairs and scored many achievements. Could you take this opportunity to recall and tell us what is your most brilliant achievement?

Kissinger: I didn't say that I am a world-class leader; I never say that. I was a German immigrant. When I first went to the US, I worked in a factory and then served four years in the army, and after that I studied in Harvard and became a professor there. I have never thought that I would be a world-class leader. In fact it was a series of coincidences that have made me one.

At that time I was a foreigner, a German immigrant and it was extraordinary to have me as the security advisor for President Nixon. That can only possibly happen in the US. Just now I said I didn't expect to be a world-class leader, but I had studied history and I was very interested in it. So I benefited from my

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background of history study when I worked in government. I knew how to
analyze, and I had done a lot of thinking. I had been a professor at Harvard, so
I didn't belong to any party or any group. I remained independent. I had also
known some advisors of President Kennedy, who told me how the White House
operated. Otherwise I wouldn't have been a good partner to Mr. Nixon so
quickly. Without such preconditions, I wouldn't have been a good security
advisor. They made me a world-class leader.

When I came to Washington the first time, I was under great pressure. But I
didn't care what the media said about me; I didn't care about that. What I
cared about was the truth. When you make a decision, you must think what you
must do, or what is your goal. You may not have to do it right, but you must
know your goal.

If there is any secret for success, I think one is that you should never forget
your goal. You should put that on your office table so that you will have the
impetus.

Here I'd also like to talk about the interaction with China. While we were doing
that I also participated in the peace process in the Middle East and the process
of improving relations with the former Soviet Union, all of which, I think, might
have laid some foundation for the independence of some East European

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countries. I wouldn't talk too much about that. You asked me to review my achievements, but in fact I prefer to talk about my goals and objectives.

Kissinger: For the next twenty minutes, shall we focus on your opinions about China's future and the impact of the Internet on China's future?

Q (Liu weiping): Distinguished Dr. Kissinger, good morning! We have been looking forward to seeing you for a long time. A few months ago, Mr. Thornton told us that you were coming to Tsinghua University, which made us very happy. We have written a book called Global Leadership, and this book consists of all the excellent speeches made by our guest speakers for the course. This book was planned to be published a long time ago, but Mr. Thornton told us that you were coming to our class and he wanted to include your speech in the book, because it is a rare and precious opportunity for us to listen to you. Therefore, we have really been looking forward to meeting you for a long time.

Up till now, there are around ten guest speakers who have come to the Global Leadership course. They are all world-class leaders in the political and business community and from NGOs. When delivering the speeches, they have made a highly informed prediction, that is, China will definitely rise in this century. Professor Thornton has told us many times that during our lives, we should set an ambitious goal if we want to make some achievements. Furthermore, Mr.

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Thornton said that China cannot fail and the world will not allow China to fail, China's rise is the mission that our young generation should undertake. Then my question is, what exhortations would you like to give to the young generation in China? What actions should be taken to let China rise?

Kissinger: Let me put your question in another way. You asked what Chinese leaders should do in order to continue peaceful development? I think that understanding the future is very difficult. In my opinion, a leader's task is to encourage and guide people to make progress on and on. Too much indulgence in old achievements will leave the country behind. If you can set some tangible goals, and you know what are the requirements for future success, what requirements that future will pose to you, you have finished a hard job, because nowadays, politics, economics and technology are developing by leaps and bounds.

When I was the Secretary of State, I did not have a cell phone, and in some places, there were even no fax machines, but today's world has undergone tremendous changes. Just now we talked about the Internet. The Internet has greatly changed people's way of thinking and their brains. My time is the time of books, so we should have good memories, but if you have access to the Internet, you needn't depend too much on memories because you have the computer. In addition, the information that you get now is more than enough,

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but your knowledge is not sufficient, so the challenge for your generation is to convert the information that you can acquire from the Internet to your own knowledge, to your own wisdom.

Thornton: Now we will only listen to your answers. What are your comments about China's future?

A: I think that the information in the Internet era is more open to the public. For instance, Dr. Kissinger could visit China secretly in the 1970s, but it is definitely impossible to do that now, that is to say, we have no secrets nowadays.

I believe that if you want to be a successful leader, you have to know not only the present, but also the past, the history, and you have to read ten thousand books. Just now, Dr. Kissinger said that Chairman Mao was very wise and rational because he had read ten thousand books. As a matter of fact, China's current new leaders also have some of this style. I believe that with the development of the Internet, China's leaders will become more and more pragmatic. They will know more and more about foreign countries and understand our own situation at the same time.

I visit the U.S. several times every year, and I think that Americans do not know China. There is a concept in the U.S., that is, some fear that a stronger China

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will influence the U.S., but this concept is not consistent with China's traditional culture. I think one of the important issues is to consider what should be done to let Americans understand Chinese cultural philosophies and methods, then Sino-American relations will not fluctuate to a large extent, which will be conducive to peace in the world at large.

A: Just now Dr. Kissinger talked about two issues. The first question is about the differences between the present-day young people and the young people in the old days, and the second is about the impact of Internet.

I have once thought about the differences between American values and Chinese values. For example, in China, if I love my country, I wish that my workplace will run well. I wish that the rest of the people in the country will have a happy life, even at the cost of my own sacrifice. However, in the U.S., people probably pay more attention to their own lives, whether somebody has infringed upon their interests. I think one of the differences between young people at present and the young people in the old days is that young people now are concerned more about reality, more about individualism, the constraints that laws and regulations bring instead of the invisible constraints that morality brings.

There are two sides as far as the impact of the Internet is concerned. On the

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one hand, it reduces the study cost for the whole society, remarkably shortens the time we spend on study, and tremendously expands our study scope because we need not undergo a long period. We can see that the U.S. is more advanced than China in many fields, but in the application and development of the Internet, China has already had the ability to compete with the U.S. in software, while it is a bit lagging behind in terms of hardware and chips. Therefore, our time spent on study is greatly reduced and the scope has been greatly expanded. On the other hand, the Internet brings a problem, just like what you mentioned just now, information rather than knowledge can be acquired via the Internet and our attention can be scattered. Then if young people are too reliant on the Internet, they do not have memories, simply information, thus they cannot form a systematic thought. This is a problem that the Internet brings.

We all know that the Internet is built on a strong infrastructure. But in many parts of China, people are poor and cannot have access to the Internet, thus making China's disparity in wealth and knowledge even bigger. This disparity grows quickly, not little by little, which poses a big problem for China's economic development and the stability of the society.

Q: May I ask a minor question? Just now you said, the attention that Chinese young people pay to the U.S. is more than the attention that American young

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people pay to China. My question is, what does the American young generation pay attention to? In our eyes, China is a great country and it is on a rapid rise. But American youngsters do not pay attention to China and its rapid development. Where does their attention go, and what should we do to make them notice China?

Lastly, I think you have witnessed the growth of the U.S. and China. Your opinions and thoughts are very important to our two countries and even to the world, so we all sincerely wish you good health and a long life. Thanks.

A: The Internet primarily brings China the information revolution. The Internet played an important role in information dissemination during the outbreak of SARS in China last year. China's traditional media are controlled by the government, and the information that the media provides represents the opinions of the government. However, through the Internet, we can know different opinions and information. Therefore, to a large extent, the Internet has a big influence on China's political system.

One of the big differences between Chinese leaders and foreign leaders is that foreign leaders pay a lot of attention to the comments of the media about them, but Chinese leaders, relatively speaking, did not value the comments of the media too much in the old days. Now, with the development of the Internet,

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there are more and more comments and opinions about Chinese leaders, and
the Internet has greatly pushed forward China's democratic system.

As to the concern of Chinese youngsters for politics, I believe that in past days,
they focused their attention on the function and role of the government, but
now, besides politics, they also pay attention to the economy, life, health, etc.

Kissinger: Let me say a few words about the Internet. When I first touched the
Internet, I felt like I was doing the work of scientists. Later I thought that the
whole world had been greatly changed with the development of the Internet,
and its role will become more and more important.

When printing was introduced into Europe in the 15th century, information could
be disseminated widely. European politics and religion were changed, and there
came revolutionary changes. In fact, the Internet has the same influence. It
has changed people's way of thinking. Globally speaking, I think that the
Internet will change people's way of thinking. This is a reality and it is a good
change. At the same time, it causes a problem. One day, I looked at a headline
on the Internet. It had 300,000 pieces of information, and everybody can
release his information on the Internet. Some are right, some are wrong, some
people just wrote a small paragraph and did not explain the source of the
information. That is to say, how can you write down history if you just collect

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information in this way? This is a challenge to our education system. How can
you get knowledge from so much information? And I do not know how to solve
this problem.

Q: I am an owner of a private business, an MBA student and a student of professor Thornton who teaches Global Leadership. First, I want to answer your question.

It is obvious that the Internet has influenced our business. I am involved in
semi-conductor processing. Our raw materials are imported from Europe and
the U.S., and our products are exported via Hong Kong. Thanks to the Internet,
our orders and production have become very efficient. Commercially speaking,
the Internet has been a positive factor for our business, but I think that the
biggest influence of the Internet upon us humans is information acquisition. In
the past, there were only a few TV channels and the media that we could have
access to were very limited. But now we have the Internet. We can know what
is happening around the world at the earliest time. We can keep in touch with
people who are far away in a timely manner. I think it can have an impact upon
China's whole structure and its government functioning.

I also want to ask you a question. I was born in the 1970s. Even when I was
very little, I knew that you had made great contributions to the establishment

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of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S., so I think that during the following decades, you have always been concerned about the relationship between China and the U.S. Can you make a prediction about the next five to ten years? Where will China's politics and economy go, and where will the Sino-American relationship go?

Kissinger: I think that China will constantly face the issue of development and stability and its relations with other countries in the world.

I believe if China can develop with the current momentum without big turbulences and disasters, it can make more and more progresses. China will double its impact upon the world with each passing decade. Because it is evitable that China's economy will develop and its impact upon other countries will grow. But it also brings two problems. First, those countries who have already had influence will face a world with a rising China, so China should not be overconfident. You have good policies, but you should also consider the concerns and thoughts of others.

As for the U.S., it should also increase its trust in China. Only by so doing can it create more opportunities for both countries to expand their exchanges. I know that China is developing in leaps and bounds. I know the potential of India, and I also know the rapid development of science and technology. Your generation

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is blessed with many opportunities, and what you are doing is unimaginable to
our generation, so do not look at this world with traditional thinking about
rights, power and politics.

Student: I am very happy to be here and to listen to your speech. Actually, I am not a student in this course. I am a lawyer working in a Chinese law firm for many years. Our major business in these years is transactions related to foreign capital between companies.

As a Chinese lawyer, I have witnessed the deepening of the reform and opening-up policy by the Chinese government. During our work, I have heard many westerners complaining about the lack of completeness, consistency and transparency of the Chinese legal system. They think that such a system cannot protect the common people. During the twenty-five years after reform and opening-up, we have seen rapid economic development and the great improvement of China's legal system. We can say that our current legal system is relatively good and balanced, but China should still make constant efforts.

China is a vast country with over one billion people, but the number of lawyers is small. In particular, we are lacking in competent lawyers. Especially, we have an urgent need of lawyers who know both Chinese laws and western laws. There are around 8,000 lawyers in Beijing and 7,000 in Shanghai. This leaves a

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big gap between the supply of lawyers and the rapid economic development.

Recently, I have noticed that many transnationals have adjusted their commercial strategies and moved their production bases, and even their headquarters for R&D, to China. This brings an increase of transnational law firms in China, and I think China's legal business will have a bright future.

Student: Good morning, Dr. Kissinger! A few days ago, an article entitled "China's nationalism rises" was published in the New York Times. I want to briefly introduce to you what was written in this article about the status of China's nationalism. Actually, there does exist what we Chinese refer to as nationalism, because Chinese pay a lot of attention to family and the social morality of respecting seniors and caring for the young. As to the Taiwan issue, China thinks that, generally speaking, it is our own internal affairs, so this kind of nationalism is more reflected as love for our motherland. Of course, I am talking about the general feeling of the Chinese, not everybody's. But personally speaking, from the current circumstances of China, nationalism has more resulted from the passion and love of our motherland. Thanks.

Thornton: We all know that Dr. Kissinger's time is very precious, and now I would like to make a brief summary in one minute.

Maybe you have heard it one thousand times that China's understanding about

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the U.S. is more sufficient than the understanding of the U.S. about China. You are all the envoy of China, and you should take the responsibility to understand the thinking of westerners. The opinions that Americans hold towards the Chinese cannot be changed overnight. You should be good cultural messengers to bridge the gap, and you should know that it is an important task for you to communicate with westerners, with Americans, so that they can better understand your country.

Just now Dr. Kissinger also said that during the past few decades, he has always regarded communication as an important task and I said so also. After all, not many Americans pay much attention to China, so I think you Chinese should take more responsibility in this respect. The point is, you should do it yourself to change the situation. And this is also one of our principles.

Kissinger: Thank you for your presence. I should say that I have learned more from you than you from me. Your words are very enlightening and helpful to me.

Somebody once asked Eisenhower, "Are you jealous of somebody in this world?" Eisenhower answered, "Yes, I am jealous of my grandson." I am also jealous of my grandson, and of you too, because you are the young generation who are blessed with so many opportunities and who have so many things to

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do.

I totally agree with what you said just now. Because you have many
opportunities and chances, you could absolutely shape a new world. If the
Americans are able to cooperate with the Chinese, such cooperation can be put
onto a higher level.

In short, your words today are very impressive to me.

Dr. Kissinger once said that any statesman can more or less be the captive of
urgent matters, and his life is full of too many rights and interests, and
conspiracy. When he looks back upon the past vicissitudes in his old age, all is
vanished with the passing of history. What are left to later generations and
remembered forever are the wisdom, the great and persistent vision and faith
in the welfare of human beings and the peace of the world.

Dr. Kissinger's speech has finished. The two hour's talk is very precious as well
as short. After the class, students gave him a souvenir of Tsinghua University as
a present and took a precious picture with him.

To our delight, professor Thornton's twelve-year-old son also appeared in our

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class. Mr. Thornton once said to his son that he would bring him to China to see
the elites among Chinese youngsters, and this China trip will be an important
part in his life.

At twelve o'clock, in front of the Shunde Building of the School of Economics
and Management of Tsinghua University, a black Benz sent Dr. Kissinger away.
We stood there in the drizzle for a long time and sincerely wish Dr. Kissinger
good health.

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