“I dont think the two countries can compete with each other. I think china and the United States should cooperate closer. They should have intense dialogues,”

Henry Kissinger said in an interview with China Daily during his trip to China to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Richard Nixons historic visit to Beijing. The key to good relations, Kissinger stressed, is for both countries to protect each others key interests. Neither should think their own views must always prevail. The US is very pragmatic, Kissinger said. It wants solutions to every problem. “China has gone through thousands of years of history, it knows that the solution to one problem is the admission of another, so China looks at problems in a more theoretical, philosophical way.” That the two societies have totally different backgrounds means interaction sometimes gets conflicted, but on the whole, Kissinger said, if they both understand what the problems are, then interaction should get easier. “Consensus may prove difficult, but confrontation on these issues is self-defeating,” he added.

“ In china, the ruling party is the communist party. The communist party now has more than 80 million party members. But you have to remember china is a country with 1.3 billion people. So I dont think you can call china a communist country, just as you cannot call the UK a conservative UK,”

Chinese ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming said during a live, one-on-one interview with Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight, the popular BBC 2 current affairs program. To Paxmans question on Lius opinion of what the program host perceived as the widely held view among young Chinese that this century is developing in a way that will make China a much more significant force in the world, Liu replied, “China will certainly contribute to maintaining world peace and prosperity. But we do not see China as a superpower. I would characterize China as the largest developing country with increasing international influence and responsibilities.” Liu went on to answer questions on sanctions on Iran, whether or not China has a moral role to play in the world, the countrys economic power and human rights.