{"id":55,"date":"2025-05-06T11:04:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T15:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?p=55"},"modified":"2025-05-22T10:32:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T14:32:15","slug":"kissinger-and-navigating-u-s-china-relations-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/05\/06\/kissinger-and-navigating-u-s-china-relations-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Kissinger and Navigating U.S.-China Relations \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally written on 12\/5\/2023<\/em><\/p>\n

Henry Kissinger, who recently passed away, is rightfully regarded as the most influential American diplomat of our age. His diplomacy led to <\/span>President Nixon\u2019s 1972 visit to the People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC) and, in 1979, to the United States recognizing the PRC rather than Taiwan\u2019s Republic of China (ROC) as the official Chinese government. <\/span>Before his 100th birthday, Kissinger gave an eight-hour interview to the <\/span>Economist <\/span><\/i>magazine. \u201cIn his view, the fate of humanity depends on whether America and China can get along.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1972, the ordinary citizens of Mainland China were overwhelmingly poor and sick. In 1972, mainland China\u2019s <\/span>per capita GDP in 2015 dollars was $2<\/span><\/a>99. Overall life expectancy was 58.4 years. The infant mortality rate was 72.1 per 1000 births. Less than 50% of the male population lived to 65 years of age. <\/span>As recently as 1990, 72% of China\u2019s population survived on less than $2.15 a day (in 2017 USA dollars)\u2014the level the World Bank considers living in absolute poverty.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What occurred over the next fifty years can only be described as one of history’s most rapid and widespread improvements in living standards. In 2022, per capita GDP in 2015 dollars was $11,560—a 38-fold increase in real terms. Life expectancy rose to 78.9 years, and infant mortality plunged to 5.1 per 1000 live births. Over 80% of men now live to age 65, and the percentage of the population living in absolute poverty fell from 72% to 0.1%.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What caused China\u2019s improvement in living standards? The Chinese government moved from a closed state-controlled economy to a relatively open, free-market economy. <\/span>Trade with the rest of the world accounted for 5.8% of China\u2019s output in 1972; in 2022, it grew to 38.1%<\/span><\/a>. In 1972, 17.2% of Mainland China\u2019s population lived in cities; in 2022 it was 63.6%.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the communist regime in Beijing has also used much of its newly derived wealth to bolster its military prowess. <\/span>China\u2019s naval power is now on par with the United States<\/span><\/a>\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although the United States long ago abandoned its diplomatic recognition of the Taiwan regime, it is still committed to the island\u2019s defense and there lies the hazard. In his April interview, Kissinger said, \u201cIt is not a simple matter for the United States to abandon Taiwan without undermining its position elsewhere.\u201d\u00a0 Kissinger knew the world he helped create is still fraught with danger. We will miss his insights and wisdom.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Originally written on 12\/5\/2023 Henry Kissinger, who recently passed away, is rightfully regarded as the most influential American diplomat of our age. His diplomacy led to President Nixon\u2019s 1972 visit to the People\u2019s Republic of China (PRC) and, in 1979, to the United States recognizing the PRC rather than Taiwan\u2019s Republic of China (ROC) as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[202],"tags":[592,582,524,590,587,581,588,589,586,163,584,583,591,585,216],"class_list":["post-55","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-geopolitics","tag-beijing","tag-diplomat","tag-economist","tag-free-market-economy","tag-gpd","tag-henry-kissinger","tag-infant-mortality","tag-life-expectancy","tag-mainland-china","tag-military","tag-peoples-republic-of-china","tag-president-nixon","tag-state-controlled-economy","tag-taiwans-republic-of-china","tag-world-bank"],"yoast_head":"\nKissinger and Navigating U.S.-China Relations \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/05\/06\/kissinger-and-navigating-u-s-china-relations-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kissinger and Navigating U.S.-China Relations \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Originally written on 12\/5\/2023 Henry Kissinger, who recently passed away, is rightfully regarded as the most influential American diplomat of our age. 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