A physically diminutive yet intellectually towering statesman embracing his counterpart – who has flown across twelve time zones to meet with him.
This was Beijing, June 29th, 1987. Top Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was receiving the visiting former US President Jimmy Carter, who stepped down six years prior, after one term in the Oval Office.
Nine years beforehand, in December 1978, Carter declared that upon January 1st, 1979, the U.S. would switch diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, thereby ending its diplomatic relations with the Taipei government. The Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the U.S. ushered in not just a new era of Sino-American rapprochement – building on the legacy left behind by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger.
The same year saw China embark upon one of the most impressive economic modernisation and liberalisation journeys in global history, undergirded by the fundamental recognition amongst the Communist Party of China leadership that ideological dogma and ossified economic planning spelt little other than doom for the deeply battered economy. Deng and his closed, trusted group of advisors saw to it that China would abandon undue fixations upon “-isms” and ideologies. In the subsequent decade and a half, his sturdy team would prioritise delivering the economic growth that would prove vital to the regime’s performance legitimacy.
Outliving Deng by over 27 years, Carter passed away on December 29th, 2024, at the age of 100. Much has been written about Carter’s contribution towards the Sino-American relationship, his somewhat invidious and divisive foreign policy record at large, and his morally upright character and integrity. Yet there is also much that he could teach the world about engaging China, especially in an era when the term “engagement” has become taboo and politically toxic in the eyes of many.
There are three particular lessons of which we should take note.
The first lesson consists of the centrality of leader-to-leader relations in stabilising great power relations. From fending off the criticisms of ultra-conservatives and doctrinaire ‘leftists’ who had resisted any form of economic liberalisation, to grappling with opportunistic nationalists who had sought an immediate resolution to the ‘Taiwan Question’ in the wake of Mao’s death and toppling of the Gang of Four, Deng had to walk a tenuous tightrope in the late 1970s.
Upon taking office, President Carter was distinctly attuned to the challenges faced by his counterpart in Beijing. Carter recognised that Deng was by far the most moderate and pragmatic counterpart in the PRC that America could hope for and was committed to realise the substantial upsides to the bilateral partnership.
Whilst the foreign policy circles in DC warned repeatedly of the prospective fallout arising from the perceived capitulation in face of communism, Carter and his inner circle took bold efforts to register and acknowledge the emphasis Beijing placed upon maintaining nominal national unity and territorial integrity. Indeed, Washington’s official recognition of the PRC proved to be a prescient and monumental olive branch, reciprocated by Deng Xiaoping’s dropping the phrase “liberation of Taiwan” from his New Year’s Day Message, and affirming that Beijing would “take present realities into account… and respect the status quo on Taiwan.” The following month, Deng visited the U.S. – till then the most senior Chinese official to be hosted in the White House.
Carter’s rare ability to appreciate the challenges and rationale of his counterpart – much as the seminal Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai – rendered him a deeply constructive facilitator to the ‘rightward shift’ of the policy needle in China. Whilst some would pan the former President for being excessively deferential, the deepening of Sino-American economic, technological, educational, and financial ties seen through by his leadership, proved instrumental in lifting hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens out of poverty in the next four decades.
At a time when America has become precipitously hysterical in its discourse on China, and ultra-nationalistic voices in China dismiss American interests for being “colonialist” and irrelevant, mutual trust between the two national leaders is all the more important in setting a floor to the relationship from the very top. Both Beijing and Washington today should take a leaf from the Deng-Carter playbook, in acknowledging the utility of setting aside differences and focusing on common interests – where possible.
The second lesson Carter embodied was a fundamental respect for the people of China. It is tempting – but clearly erroneous – to equate China with its ruling party, and the ruling party with its senior leadership. The 1.4 billion people deserve much more than the lazy, crass generalisations that proliferate popular discourses today.
Carter empathetically cared about the welfare of the Chinese people. Upon his retirement, he founded the Carter Center, a non-governmental, non-profit organisation with the mandate of advancing human rights and alleviating human suffering across the world.
The 1990s and 2000s saw a fortuitous confluence of Carter’s vision and political developments in China. With tacit endorsement from the very top, the Chinese government extended the invitation for the Carter Center to observe village elections, train municipal and county officials, and educate Chinese voters. Whilst electoral democracy is often portrayed as antithetical to the interests of the Chinese regime, it was apparent that the reality was much more complex than this false binary.
Both sides of the Pacific saw value in exploring how carefully managed democratic experimentation on the grassroots level could in fact enhance the quality of governance helmed by technocrats and meritocratically appointed bureaucrats at more senior levels. The nuances and subtleties of village governance were captured by extensive publications published by Carter’s top China advisor, Dr. Yawei Liu – which make for fascinating reading today, for individuals aiming to develop a more multi-dimensional understanding of China.
One of Carter’s many trips was to Sichuan province in 2009, where Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, volunteered to build houses for the poor in the aftermath of the catastrophic earthquake. Sichuan was also the home province of his old friend, Deng.
Whilst political institutions and norms indeed evolve, and the priorities of China’s leadership have apparently shifted over time, it would be remiss to disparage Carter as naïve or misinformed in his aspirations. Improvements to governmental accountability, efficiency, and transparency remain highly salient focal points of ongoing efforts in institutional reform across many parts of China today. Carter’s commitment to bettering the lives of his fellow human beings – whether they be Chinese or American, Russian or Cuban – remains laudable.
The third, and perhaps most important, lesson revolves around peace. On the 40th anniversary of the normalisation of relations, Carter wrote that “in 1979, Deng Xiaoping and I knew we were advancing the cause of peace.” Even in his final years, Carter remained a tireless advocate of conversation, collaboration, and respectful communication between China and the U.S. – with the eventual goal of ensuring that the two powerful countries can co-exist in peace, in “build[ing] their futures together, for themselves and for humanity at large”.
Peace in our world remains elusive. Peace between China and the U.S. is looking increasingly fragile – with the plethora of geopolitical flashpoints looming ahead. A fervent and unequivocal commitment to peace may sound lofty and sanctimonious but is the prerequisite for economic growth and macro stability, the world over.
The former President was by no means a flawless politician. Many would take issue with his perceived weakness in the face of Iranian aggression. Some would accuse him of being pollyannish in hoping that the normalisation of American ties with China would transform China into a country akin to the US – though whether such a trajectory of events would in fact be desirable, remains poorly interrogated and substantiated.
Yet what cannot be convincingly contested, is Carter’s openness and magnanimity in campaigning for the rights of a foreign people to lead lives of modest comfort and growing affluence. Jimmy Carter embraced China – with all its flaws and beauty, strengths and imperfections. In return, China embraced the world.
For that, we must remain forever grateful.
