‘An old friend’: how George H.W. Bush will be remembered
Late US president recognised the abiding geopolitical importance of China
George H.W. Bush was a one-term president but he played a pivotal role in Washington’s foreign policy towards Beijing for decades and remains one of the bestknown American names in China.
A second world war veteran and a foreign policy realist, the 41st American president – like other towering figures such as Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan – recognised the geopolitical importance of communist China.
Bush, who died on Friday at the age of 94, is best remembered in China for his 14-month stint as America’s de facto ambassador to Beijing in the 1970s and his efforts to steer relations through the aftermath of the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in June 1989.
He is deeply respected in China as “an old friend” – a title, according to diplomatic analysts, usually reserved for communist leaders or sympathisers, or a select number of world dignitaries – such as former diplomat Henry Kissinger – for outstanding contributions to Beijing’s often tumultuous relations with the world.
Bush’s legacy in China, they said, stood in sharp contrast to that of President Donald Trump, whose hardline stand on trade and a slew of geopolitical differences had plunged bilateral ties to their lowest point in 40 years.
“Bush will be sorely missed as a leader whose vision and confidence in a strong US-China relationship helped keep relations from going off the rails, especially during difficult, testy times,” said
Tao Wenzhao of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
“We really wish American officials and people could ponder the legacy of president Bush and learn from the lessons in our relations over the years.”
Pang Zhongying, another Beijing-based international relations expert, also spoke highly of Bush, describing him as a key diplomatic figure in the normalisation period. “He left a lasting imprint on US-China ties with his tremendous job in forging closer relations since the early 1970s,” he said.
Tasked with fostering relations with Beijing after Nixon’s historic visit in 1972, Bush served as the head of the US liaison office in Beijing between 1974 and 1975, when he forged personal ties with Chinese leaders and diplomats.
Bush was criticised, by Kissinger and others, as too “soft” for power diplomacy and statecraft. However, the trust and personal ties he spent years building often proved invaluable.
As vice-president, Bush was assigned to Beijing twice to deal with the issue of Taiwan.
According to Tao, a trip Bush made in May 1982 was of particular importance. “Bush’s meeting with top Chinese leaders and especially Deng … paved the way for the signing of the August 17 communique,” he said, referring to the third of three cornerstone bilateral statements for the normalisation of Sino-US relations.
Bush also made an official visit to China in February 1989, just a month after he became president.
One of President Xi Jinping’s top advisers on US affairs, Yang Jiechi, a former Chinese foreign minister and top envoy to the US, is known as a Bush family friend.
In 1978, Bush visited Hong Kong on a business trip. He spoke at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, and advocated for the normalisation of American relations with China. China had three conditions – that the US withdraw troops from Taiwan, end diplomatic ties with Taipei and abrogate its defence treaty with the nationalists. China and the US established diplomatic relations in January 1979 after the US broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
On another visit in 1985, the Post reported that Bush, vicepresident at the time, had rented two floors of the now demolished Hilton Hotel in Central and had an entourage of about 120 bodyguards, aides and journalists.
Bush was also known to be a customer of Sam’s Tailor in Tsim Sha Tsui, who made shirts and suits for him, his son George W as well as Bill Clinton.