Taiwan¡¯s reaction to Henry Kissinger¡¯s death last Wednesday has been muted, illustrating the ambivalence toward the larger-than-life American diplomat in the island democracy that he himself never saw as distinct from China.
Lawmaker Lo Chih-cheng of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, an international relations scholar, told reporters on Thursday that the former United States secretary of state and national security adviser played a key role in the development of U.S.-China relations, but did not comment on how Kissinger impacted Taiwan.
Comments from the main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT) ¡ª which ruled Taiwan as a military dictatorship when Kissinger began his overture to Beijing in the 1970s ¡ª have been more revealing. Lawmaker Chen I-hsin, a diplomatic expert, said that Kissinger¡¯s determination to establish a relationship with Beijing led to Washington¡¯s eventual derecognition of Taipei. However, he also added that the late diplomat¡¯s focus on achieving world peace would be ¡°an inspiration to Taiwan¡± given the current U.S.-China rivalry.
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