‘Foothills of a Cold War’

Toward the end of a long life that will be remembered in part for his diplomatic breakthrough with China, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Beijing that the two countries are now in the “foothills of a Cold War.”

The resulting conflict could be worse than World War I, Kissinger warned. At age 96, the architect of rapprochement—the secret negotiations with China that set up the historic visit by President Richard Nixon—is now watching as that project unravels. Kissinger said he believes the U.S. and China can salvage their relationship, but both sides must understand the political causes of the standoff and commit to overcoming them. “It is far from being too late for that,” he declared. —Andy Browne