CRI听力:Kissinger in China Elaborates on World Order

Henry Kissinger is a well-known name in China. He is widely thought as an old, sincere friend of the Chinese people.

Dating back to 1971, Henry Kissinger, who was Nixon's National Security Advisor, flew to Beijing, where his meetings with then Chinese leaders produced an agreement that President Nixon would visit China. That's the first-ever visit by a US president in history.

As an experienced senior diplomat, Kissinger has many precious moments to recall, but he set his vision further away in the future in his book, World Order, as he himself explains:

"Somebody said to me, you really should write a book about the biggest problem in the world today. Don't write about history; write about the future. And so I wrote it. In all human history, there has never been a world order. In this sense, the whole world participated in creating an international system."

Henry Kissinger wrote the book World Order in September 2014.

Within a year, the Chinese edition of World Order was published by CITIC Press Group.

According to the publisher, 200,000 books have been sold within the very first three months since it became available in China.

Fu Ying is the chairperson of Foreign Affairs Committee, National People's Congress.

"Kissinger's book in good sale in China reflects Chinese people's admiration for his rich knowledge and also experiences as a famous diplomat. His book would guide readers to travel along the route of history. The book vividly shows us those historical scenes which include confrontation, conflicts and the real stories on initiating world peace, breaking it and re-seeking peace and stability."

Under Kissinger's observation, there has never been a true "world order". Each country considers itself the center of the world and envisions its distinct principles as universally relevant.

China and the US, as the two important players in international politics, should first properly tackle their bilateral ties.

Kissinger offers compelling insights into the future of U.S.–China relations in this book.

"When the American and Chinese leaders meet, they have to learn not only their own interest, but the interests of the world. And they are making a serious effort; that statements of American president and Chinese presidents have been very positive about long-range objectives and they found ways of dealing with short range objectives. But now we have to work on middle range objectives since five years ahead. We haven't fully resolved that yet."

In addition to U.S.–China relations, World Order also examines lessons from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and analyzes nuclear negotiations with Iran and tensions with Russia over Ukraine.

CRI's Xu Fei reporting.