New book details how Kissinger’s secret visit to China in 1971 changed contemporary history

Published by HarperCollins India, 'A New Cold War: Henry Kissinger and the Rise of China', edited by Sanjaya Baru and Rahul Sharma, will be released on 10 August on ThePrint's ‘SoftCover’.

'A New Cold War: Henry Kissinger and the Rise of China'

New Delhi: Former US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger’s secret visit to China to meet the country’s top leaders in July 1971 inaugurated a new phase not just in US-China relations but in contemporary history and contributed to China’s rise as a superpower.

The book ‘A New Cold War: Henry Kissinger and the Rise of China’, edited by Sanjaya Baru and Rahul Sharma, is a collection of critical essays that examines the impact, consequences and legacy of Kissinger’s first, door-opening visit to China and how it shaped the world order.

Published by HarperCollins India, it will be released on 10 August on ‘SoftCover’, ThePrint’s online venue to launch select non-fiction books.

The essay collection has contributions from 18 foreign policy experts such as Kanti Bajpai, Hoo Tiang Boon, Sujan Chinoy, Bill Emmott, Frédéric Grare, Suhasini Haidar, Quah Say Jye, Tsutomu Kikuchi, Chung Min Lee, Tanvi Madan, Kishore Mahbubani, Kalpit A. Mankikar, Rana Mitter, C. Raja Mohan, Samir Saran Teresita Schaffer, Ayesha Siddiqa, Peter Varghese and Igor Yurgens.

Examining the global implications of the US-China diplomacy half a century after Kissinger’s historic visit, the book explains how the US and China are today engaged in a trade war bordering on a new Cold War.

The book also explains that China grew economically and militarily and used its financial prowess to spread its influence across continents, as four generations of Chinese leaders built their nation at the expense of the US.

“Marking the 50th anniversary of the Nixon-Kissinger outreach to China, this unique collection of essays by eminent scholars and diplomats from around the world offers critical perspectives on America’s contribution to China’s rise and the origins of the New Cold War,” said Baru, political commentator and author.

Sharma, a former newspaper editor, noted, “Kissinger’s was a path-breaking visit, which changed the world forever. China’s rise is a reality that the world will continue to grapple with for a long time to come. The essays in this book attempt to analyse what prompted the Americans to open the doors to China, as well as the challenges that it has created for just about every nation today.”