Book Review: On China, by Henry Kissinger

A product of the American education system, I knew I had little in the way of a solid background in Chinese history, culture, or thinking. Kissinger starts with a brief synopsis of Confucianism, Sun Tzu's Art of War, and WeiChi. If you want an in-depth course on these subjects, go to your nearest Barnes & Noble. You are provided what you need to know to move forward with the reading.

With these ideas in place, he delves into periods of imperial dynasties, colonial interplay, submission, followed by civil war, the rise of Mao, and the shift towards economic modernity. Each draws from the cultural threads that Kissinger draws attention to. Chinese leaders who recognize how to manage the power struggles within and outside of the country prove the focus of interest for this book. Each impacts the society he lives in and those who follow.

Kissinger's retelling of China's history up to his encounters provides the briefing for his own negotiations with the communist country. The text reads like a game of chess between two masters. He explains at lengths his own interactions and why the Nixon administration made the choices they did. The further he gets away from his own influences in policy, the less description he provides. Like a former president, he attempts to not pass his own judgment on the policies of those after him. Whether this is a subtle form of disapproval or the author acknowledging his own distance from the modern subject, I choose the former.

I find Kissinger's personal anecdotes and historical understanding a much-needed briefing to the reader, without which, one can not fully comprehend events which lie outside the bounds of this text and are constantly unfolding before us.  One immediately can find parallels and underlying tones that remain in modern Chinese society. It is easy to view another's flaws in a binary system until one is provided with a more in-depth knowledge of what influencers and ideas lead to the point. Economics was not the focus of this text but could certainly have been of interest to yours truly. However, the discussion itself provides a deeper understanding of the political drivers of today's Chinese economic system. WeiChi ala economic independence.