Zhou Enlai and Normalization of Sino-American Relations.

摘要

Nobody ever accused Henry Kissinger of indulging in gratuitous flattery of the various actors with whom he shared the world stage. Yet, his enthusiastic regard and soaring praise for Zhou Enlai's abilities and accomplishments as a statesman border on deification. The possibility certainly exists that Kissinger views Zhou's achievements through rose-tinted lenses. Inflating Zhou's image as one of the truly great statesman of our time, after all, serves equally well to polish Kissinger's professional halo as a practitioner of statecraft of heroic proportions. An examination of the events leading to the 1972 Shanghai Communique and subsequent normalization of Sino- American relations, however, still strongly supports Zhou Enlai's reputation as one of the premier statesmen of this century. Zhou's elegant but hard-nosed style of statecraft achieved China's national security objectives and admirably served China's national security strategy. Evaluating the formulation and implementation of China's national security strategy during the period of Sino- American normalization provides ample support for Kissinger's towering opinion of Zhou's statecraft. The element of artistry required for the successful application of a nation's political, economic, and psychological powers is a fair approximation of that elusive quality commonly referred to as 'statecraft.' Analysis of China's national security strategy (as well as Zhou Enlai's statecraft in implementing China's strategy) should start with a review of fundamental assumptions. Zhou's assumptions -- to include his observations of the domestic as well as the international environment -- formed the foundation on which he conducted China's foreign policy during the period of Sino-American rapprochement.