President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to the United States this time. The event on the first night of the trip was to attend a dinner and deliver an important speech. During this dinner, we met a familiar face, the old friend of the Chinese people - Henry Kissinger.

President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to the United States this time. The event on the first night of the trip was to attend a dinner and deliver an important speech. During this dinner, we met a familiar face, the old friend of the Chinese people - Henry Kissinger.

Since the secret "Operation Polo" in 1971, Kissinger, who is already 92 years old, has come to China nearly a hundred times for different purposes in 44 years, and has also met with Chinese national leaders on other occasions. Today I will give you an inventory of the important moments between Kissinger and the Chinese leaders.

1972, "Operation Polo" secretly met

In July 1971, Kissinger, then-President's National Security Assistant, pretended to have a stomachache and hid it from the media and flew from Pakistan, a common africa between China and the United States, to Beijing with a seven-centimeter-thick folder. He met Zhou Enlai, Ye Jianying and others.

Due to confidentiality and their respective schedules, the total time left for the first senior American official to set foot on Chinese territory in 22 years is only 48 hours. In addition to sleeping, polite visits and other arrangements, the two sides had less than 24 hours of real discussion.

htmlUnder the background of the Cold War in the early 1970s, China and the United States had a strategic need to establish relations. It is precisely because of this action that Nixon's visit to China in 1972 became the basis for the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States.

And Kissinger also visited China five times in the following three years. For a Western diplomat, this frequency has reached its extreme.

1979, he ate hot pot with Deng Xiaoping in an ordinary restaurant.

Although Kissinger left the White House where he served for eight years in 1977, on the eve of the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, this did not prevent him from continuing to play a role as an important participant in Sino-US relations. During Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States in 1979, the two were able to meet formally.

Kissinger also revealed to the media the details of his personal relationship with Deng Xiaoping: "The place where we eat hot pot is a single room, but the restaurant itself is an ordinary restaurant, not a state guesthouse. It is not common for Chinese leaders to take foreign guests to eat at ordinary restaurants. Obviously, Deng Xiaoping did not treat me as a guest, but as his old friend."

1987, becoming the founding chairman of the US-China Association

In his 2013 meeting with Kissinger, Jiang Zemin recalled that the two first met in September 1987. At that time, Kissinger became one of the founding presidents of the US-China Association. In this capacity, he traveled back and forth between the ocean many times, and cheered for Jiang Zemin and Clinton's visits to China and China's entry into the WTO.

Kissinger also recalled his second meeting with Jiang Zemin. He said to Jiang Zemin: "In 1989, I visited China again and met you. China was in a relatively difficult moment. You did not show any hesitation, but faced these difficulties with confidence. Your tenacity and courage left a deep impression on me."

2002, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States met with Hu Jintao in the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

In the public report, Hu Jintao and Kissinger's first meeting was in April 2002, the 30th anniversary of the publication of the Sino-US Joint Communiqué. After

, Hu Jintao and Kissinger met frequently. In April of that year, the two met twice in Beijing and New York. In November 2003 and May 2005, when Kissinger was invited to visit China twice, Hu Jintao met him.

In January 2011, Hu Jintao visited the United States. When attending the welcoming luncheon hosted by the US-China Trade Commission, the conference specially invited Kissinger to introduce Hu Jintao to the guests present. When Kissinger invited Hu Jintao to the stage, Kissinger shook hands with him and showed that he was very kind to him.

2012, welcomed Xi Jinping's visit to the United States

In June 2011, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Kissinger's first visit to China, Xi Jinping, then Vice President of China, met with him at the Great Hall of the People.

In February 2012, then Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited the United States, and Kissinger and U.S. Secretary of Labor Zhao Xiaolan welcomed him together.

Just a few days ago, Kissinger praised Xi Jinping for visiting the United States and said that President Xi is a very decisive person with rich life experience.Kissinger believes that President Xi Jinping is one of the most outstanding Chinese leaders, and this visit to the United States will become a "mileway" in Sino-US relations.

Source: Voice of China, Xinhuanet, China News Service, etc.

Editor: Hehemei

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