John Negroponte was on a desk in Washington as Vietnam director for the National Security Council when Richard Nixon became the first U.S. president to visit China in 1972.
Mr. Negroponte soon got onto the China file. Within months, he accompanied Henry Kissinger - then national security adviser - on his follow-up visits to China.
The career diplomat's subsequent postings included U.S. ambassador to the UN and Iraq, and George W. Bush appointed him as the first director of national intelligence. He finished his career in government as deputy secretary of state.
The Vancouver Opera invited Mr. Negroponte to the premiere of its $1.4-million production of John Adams' opera Nixon in China held as part of the Cultural Olympiad of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
What is the lesson for diplomats from president Nixon's visit to China?
Strategic patience, and that sometimes we should be careful not to let the urgent crowd out the important. The move towards China was a really very strategic and important move. It wasn't necessarily going to pay all of its dividends right away, but it was a visionary first step.
Margaret MacMillan ends her book (Nixon in China ) with: "Only Nixon can go to China." What do you think that means and are there modern parallels?
What she's saying is that China was a very controversial issue in our country. We had the McCarthy era. We had a lot of China bashing that went on after it fell to the Communists. And Nixon was on the right-wing side, if you will, of that debate. His credentials as a China basher were second to none. And then here he comes as president and because his right flank was so well covered, if you will, he could take the political risk of opening up to China and he didn't have anything to worry about from that quarter. ...
I think there are analogies that come up every now and then in different countries. Perhaps the one that's cited most frequently today would be that ultimately, maybe it's [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu]who can make peace with the Palestinians because he's got such strong credentials in terms of having fought vigorously to defend Israeli nationalist interests.
Are there parallels in Afghanistan and Iran?
I don't see them. Some others might. My own view is that Afghanistan and Iran have to do with what's become a new phenomenon on the international scene, post cold war, which is this Islamic extremism, violent Islamic extremism, which is a problem we need to deal with.
Should we be talking to the Taliban?
As long as they're willing to accept the political and constitutional system of Afghanistan. One doesn't want to get oneself into discussions with the Taliban where the whole issue of the system is on the table for negotiation.
How do we overcome the emotions and antagonisms to negotiate with our enemies?
I remember when the Viet Cong joined the Paris peace talks in 1969 for the first time. ... All I knew about, was that they were the people who were shooting at our soldiers when I was serving in the United States embassy in Saigon in South Vietnam. But, you know, once you get into it, you learn that when enemies or adversaries and negotiators, these people are trying to do the best for their side, they usually are quite professional about it. I always thought that the North Vietnamese delegation, which I got to know fairly well, was a very professional group of people. I neither cared for their political system nor was I happy about the fact that they were trying to take over South Vietnam by force, but I respected their diplomatic representatives. That's possible to do. It really is.