Kissinger does not see China striking Taiwan in next decade

WASHINGTON • Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger says he does not foresee a Chinese military invasion of Taiwan in the next decade, though it is "perfectly possible" that China will seek to weaken the island's status.

"I don't expect an all-out attack on Taiwan in, say, a 10-year period, which is as far as I can see," Mr Kissinger said in an interview on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS that was set to air yesterday.

Mr Kissinger, 98, who also served as national security adviser and helped pave the way for then President Richard Nixon's historic 1972 visit to China, said "everyone wants to be a China hawk" and "everyone assumes that China is determined to dominate the world and that that is its primary objective".

But he said there should not be an automatic rivalry and competition with the United States, and that he thinks President Joe Biden during the virtual summit last week with Chinese leader Xi Jinping "began to move in a direction of a different road".

China's claim that Taiwan is a breakaway province to be retaken by force if necessary was a contentious part in the Biden-Xi talks.

A Chinese Communist Party resolution reflecting Mr Xi's agenda has advocated pushing for union with Taiwan, though it stopped short of listing unification as a near-term goal.

"We should have a principal goal of avoiding confrontation," Mr Kissinger told CNN.

BLOOMBERG