As Special Assistant to National Security Advisor Henry A. Kissinger, Winston Lord traveled with him on his secret 1971 trip to China and then with President Richard M. Nixon the following year. He sat in on some of the most crucial meetings that led to China’s opening to the West, and brought the United States and China closer together, including every meeting that Presidents Nixon and Gerald Ford and Dr. Kissinger held with Chairman Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping. He later served as Ambassador to China. Mr. Lord, 82, now lives in New York with his wife, the novelist Bette Bao Lord. What follows are lightly edited excerpts of our Q. and A. last week.
Winston LordIllustration by Lauren Crow
Q: Just over a week ago, a group of 100 leading foreign policy experts and former government officials released a statement calling for greater cooperation between the U.S. and China to deal with what has become a global health crisis — the emergence of Covid-19. Clea
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