SEASONED former diplomat Henry Kissinger meets China’s Xi Jinping — at age 100.
China’s President Xi Jinping welcomed the former US Secretary of State to Beijing amid frosty relations between the two nations.
Xi referred to the veteran politician as one of China’s “old friends”, harking back to his first visit 52 years ago when he was instrumental in bridging the diplomatic gap between Washington and Beijing.
The president wished Mr Kissinger, who turned 100 in May, a “long and healthy life”.
His first visit had “great historic meaning” and marked a “turning point” for China-US relations, President Xi told him.
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He said: “The Chinese people never forget their old friends and Sino-US relations will always be linked with the name of Henry Kissinger.”
Kissinger has visited the country more than 100 times and his last trip to the capital was in 2019.
His trip this week was taken “under his own volition” a State Department spokesman said this week.
Mr Kissinger also met with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and Defence Minister Li Shangfu.
