The Mao-Kissinger Meeting of 1973
I&#x27;m not entirely sure I get what this tells us. A degree of cynicism in politics is inevitable, for the players. And, Kissinger was undoubtedly playing. As was Mao, with other people.<p>Interesting Edgar Snow was brought up, I read his long March piece as a child, it&#x27;s pretty accessible. (&quot;Red Star over China&quot; 1937)<p>Zhou EnLai was a survivor and a moderating force in the bad times. The national museum in Tienanmen square celebrates his life quite quietly. I saw photos of Zhou all through China on shop walls, drinking tea and having a smoke with people. Deng somehow less so. There&#x27;s a rather odd fashion statement moment when all three of Deng, Mao and Zhou can be seen separately in photos, sporting a western style golf cap like Bing Crosby. &quot;I&#x27;ll get back to par on the ninth hole, just after I finish reconstructing steel industry furnaces and representing the farm sector in a standup&quot; -I doubt they had much time for golf, but maybe they liked listening to Bing on 78s?<p>Ironic that Kissinger talked about US hopes for Iran, they royally fucked up with the Shah, and what followed pretty much defined the US&#x2F;USSR battle lines in the middle east. So much can be laid at the door of misplaced US diplomacy.<p>But it was good to engage with China, and I think most Chinese now would be happy a pair of cynical bastards met and talked it out.<p>Nixon wasn&#x27;t much more than a figurehead in this.<p>Christopher Hitchens was right: Kissinger was a war criminal so I tend to regard this kind of verbatim report as reflecting two criminally minded geniuses shooting the breeze together.