Lessons in Diplomacy
By From Vanessa at Feministing:
In the midst of a trade discussion in 1973 with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, Chinese leader Mao Zedong offered sending Chinese women to the United States as as a trade, saying:
“We don’t have much. What we have in excess is women. So if you want them we can give a few of those to you, some tens of thousands. . . We have too many women. … They give birth to children and our children are too many.”
And the kicker: “It is such a novel proposition,” Kissinger replied. “We will have to study it.”
Shades of Dr. Strangelove… Seriously, though, I’m not sure how Kissinger could have responded any differently; vicious misogyny was only one of the many horrible things that Kissinger chose to ignore about Mao Zedong. Any thoughts on a more appropriate reply that would have preserved the opportunity for Sino-American reapproachment?