China should intersect with sincerity.
The United States, with internal rifts and external discord, has entered the "Biden era", and how to govern such an America has become a major challenge for the Biden team. In this regard, former US Secretary of State Schultz, who recently passed away, has a often-hung advice - "Trust is the coin of the kingdom."
"Three-habitat star" small test cattle knife
Former U.S. Secretary of State Schultz, who served the longest time after World War II, died on the 6th at the age of 100. Associated Press correspondent Matthew Lee described Schultz as serving the three most powerful U.S. presidents of the Cold War, but all cleverly injecting their own ideas into public policy. It was he who, along with president Reagan at the time, diplomatically pushed the Cold War to an end.
George Pratt Schultz (December 13, 1920 – February 6, 2021). GJ diagram
Born in New York in 1920, Schultz graduated from Princeton University in 1942 and later fought in the Pacific War, retiring from the army and studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and staying on to teach. In 1955, the little-known Schultz was favored by President Eisenhower and served as an economic adviser for two years. Over the next few decades, Schultz took root in prestigious schools and specialized in the study of industrial relations. In 1969, Nixon entered the White House and named Schultz as Secretary of Labor. In the midst of labor conflicts, Schultz has won the trust of all parties with full communication. In 1972 he was transferred to finance, where he helped formulate policies to stabilize the economy and negotiated bulk trade agreements with his sworn enemy, the Soviet Union.
After the "Watergate Incident", Schultz went to Washington to seek development, became the president of the famous engineering company Beckett, and concurrently served as a teacher at the Stanford University Business School, taking the lead in opening public affairs and non-profit management courses, which can be called the "three stars" of political and business science.
Shaping the U.S. and Soviet arms control system
In 1982, the United States, which had been trapped in the Cold War for more than three decades, reached a crossroads. President Reagan, who pursued a strategic offensive, found his foreign policy inadequate and appointed Schultz as secretary of state. Schultz's diplomatic approach to Reagan is realistic and progressive, contributing to the cooling of hotspots of conflict such as Lebanon and Nicaragua, while not excluding the necessary force.
Schultz (right) and Reagan. GJ diagram
What makes Schultz most proud may be that he shaped the US-Soviet arms control system. At that time, the US-Soviet arms race was disturbing the world, and Schultz wanted to make hawkish President Ronald Reagan realize that normal dialogue with the Soviet Union and the use of compromise to limit the military potential of both sides were good for the United States. Soviet Foreign Minister Shevardnadze had the same idea at the time.
In 1985 Schultz and Shevardnadze had a pithy dialogue. "I've laid down my weapon, now it's your turn..." Shevardnadze, in front of Schultz, plunged back into the sheath a Georgian knife that had been given as a gift. I also laid down my arms. Schultz drew in a well-dressed girl behind him, "I want to introduce you to my number one bodyguard and my best weapon." Looking at the disproportionate figure of the protected and the bodyguard, Shevardnadze clasped the girl's steely hand and said, "I finally believe that the fate of the United States is in reliable hands." Schultz also shook the hand of the Soviet foreign minister: "I also believe that the fate of the world is in reliable hands." "This is a rare scene in the history of U.S.-Soviet relations. In the negotiations that followed, the U.S.-Soviet diplomatic family changed the style of communication in the past and overcame years of distrust. In 1987, the leaders of the United States and the Soviet Union signed the INF Treaty, which eliminated their respective land-based short- and medium-range missiles.
China should intersect with sincerity
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Schultz's death on the 8th that Schultz is a senior US politician and diplomat, who has made positive efforts and useful contributions to promoting the development of Sino-US relations during his term of office, and has continued to work for a long time to enhance understanding and mutual trust between the two countries and promote Sino-US friendly cooperation after leaving office.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin. Map of the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Looking back at history, during Schultz's presidency of the State Council, Sino-US relations developed rapidly, and both sides worked hard to carry out constructive work, manage differences, and expand consensus. One of the key elements is to attach importance to dialogue and to enhance mutual understanding, especially confidence-building.
In 1983, Schultz visited China as secretary of state, and in his talks with Chinese leaders, he saw China's serious attitude, especially not avoiding the actual issues of bilateral relations, seeking frank discussions and enhancing mutual trust, which made him feel confident. As he said in his congratulatory speech at the Great Hall of the People: "China is a very important country, and its friendship is what we cherish." "The U.S.-China relationship is one of our most important relationships around the world, because China, especially in Asia, exerts a huge influence, it has great potential, and it has even greater potential in the future." At the end of his visit to China, Schultz stressed at a news conference that "the United States will fully abide by all the provisions of the Sino-US joint communique."
Objectively speaking, although Reagan has made "small moves" in selling weapons to Taiwan, he has generally injected positive energy into the development of Sino-US relations. The vitality of China's reform and opening up has also given the United States great business opportunities.
In 1984, Schultz accompanied Reagan to Shanghai, and his first stop was to visit Shanghai's first Sino-US joint venture, Shanghai Fox Polo Co., Ltd. After that, he went to Fudan University to communicate with teachers and students, and contacted farmers in the suburbs of Shanghai. In the Hongqiao Township Hongchun Brigade, farmer Bao Hongyuan and his wife Yang Fengfang invited American guests into the newly built small building, and the rich life surprised the guests. Schultz shouted to the Accompanying American reporters: "They (the Chinese farmers) have done everything beautifully!" Reagan repeated the same phrase.
Schultz recalled that when he entertained his Chinese counterparts in the United States, he deliberately chose the family banquet menu, the most classic of which was "four dishes and one soup" - seafood platter, baby chicken, roasted tomatoes, green peas and frozen lemon essence, absolutely "eaten with friends". In 1988, when Attending a party in Washington to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, Schultz said: "The actual achievements that have been made prove that the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China is conducive to the interests of the two peoples and peace in Asia and the world." He joined Reagan in stressing that "the United States and China can and must be partners in the great challenges ahead."
On September 4, 1996, Schultz (right) shook hands with his old friends at the first meeting of the "Prospect for the Twenty-first Century Forum" held in Beijing. Xinhua News Agency photo
On the eve of his centenarian birthday last December, Schultz wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post titled "The Ten Most Important Things I Learned in a Hundred Years": "Looking back I was surprised to find that there was an experience (and sometimes a lesson) that I learned early on and then re-learned again and again — trust is the coin of the kingdom. When trust is in the room, good things happen. When trust is not in the room, good things don't happen. I wonder if today's American "helmsman" understands this?