(OPINION) – SCMP – The conflict between the United States and China will be “inevitable” and result in “a catastrophic outcome” that “will be worse than world wars” unless the countries settle their differences, according to former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger. “We are in a difficult period now.
I am confident the leaders on both sides will realize the future of the world depends on the two sides working out solutions and managing the inevitable difficulties,” he said at an event hosted by the National Committee on US-China Relations in New York on Thursday. “There is no doubt many aspects of the evolution of China are challenging to the US,” the 96-year-old said. “It never happened before that two major countries in different parts of the universe were in similar positions.”
But they must understand that a permanent conflict between them could not be won and would end in “a catastrophic outcome” for Beijing and Washington, he said. If no resolution was achieved, “it will be worse than the world wars that ruined European civilization”, he said. “It’s no longer possible to think that one side can dominate the other,” he said. “They have to get used to the fact that they have that kind of a rivalry.” READ MORE
