Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who has died aged 100, will be remembered in Asia for establishing diplomatic relations with China, a Cold War strategic move that reflected his lifelong concern for the Chinese people. Carter died on Sunday, nearly two years after he entered home hospice care in Plains, Georgia, his family announced.
China expressed “deep condolences,” with foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning telling a regular media briefing Monday: “As U.S. president Jimmy Carter facilitated and oversaw the establishment of diplomatic ties with China and made vital contributions to promoting the development of Sino-US relations and friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.”Carter’s 1977-81 tenure in the White House was marked by the Camp David Accords peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, the Iran hostage crisis – and the rapprochement with China at the height of the Cold War with the Soviet Union.
