HISTORY ESSAY HIGHEST : DR. HENRY A KISSINGER

 

For Proud Pakistan, in 1971, - the fall of Decca was a grave political defeat. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi now wanted to turn her military to what was then West Pakistan.

Dr. Kissinger got President Nixon to get the Shahanshah of Iran to get Indira Gandhi to backoff from her madness. Iran warned India that in such a scenario Iranian forces would come to the aid of Pakistan.

It is with this in mind that this publishing is dedicated to the Memory of President Nixon and Dr. Henry A Kissinger.

BEIJING : In the cold winter of 1972, a schoolteacher in a poor Chinese village asked his whole class :  '' The U.S. president, Nixon, and his adviser Dr. Kissinger will be in China. What should we do?''

Then 8 year old, I was a good student and had just finished my homework - writing down 50 times in Chinese characters the omnipresent political slogan '' Down with the American imperialists! Down with Soviet revisionists! Long Live Chairman Mao! ''

So I quickly popped up with an answer. '' Arrest them, because they are our enemies.''

Within a few years, I realized how wrong I had been. The American outreach crafted by Henry Kissinger helped catalyze decades of complex political changes in China, leading to an era of reform and opening that eventually lifted 800 million people out of poverty and opened the eyes and minds of even more people.

All of that greatly affected life, along with the lives of millions of other young students.

Five years after Dr. Kissinger's visit, China reopened colleges after being effectively closed for a decade.

Through hard work and goodluck, I was able to enter college and later went to the United States to obtain my Ph.D from the same university where Kissinger received his.

WHAT A MAGICAL CHANGE for a schoolboy who had just been copying party propaganda. The simple lesson learned that day?

'' Don't be tricked by political slogans. ''

I can think of no other political figure or thought leader today who helped to initiate as monumental a positive impact on a foreign country as Dr. Kissinger.

Although his death at the age of 100 last week has triggered polarized reactions in America, it has aroused overwhelmingly warm sentiments in China's normally harsh Internet space.

Grateful articles by private citizens in his memory have gone viral.

The World Students Society thanks David Daokui Li for his opinion.