He was thought to have played an important role in the talks leading up to and during President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China. His memoirs, "The Man on Mao's Right," written with the assistance of ghostwriter Foster Winans, was published in July 2008 by Random House.

    Looking into the future of China-U.S. relations, Ji said it is "the wave of the future" for the two governments and peoples to promote friendly and mutually beneficial relations between the two countries.

    "We all should make our efforts to safeguard our ties," he noted.

    The new Obama administration may fine tune some specific policies toward China, but Ji said he was fully confident that neither Chinese nor U.S. leaders will change the direction that this "ship of friendship" is heading for.

    "More than 30 years ago, the leaders of our two countries decided to bury the hatchet and develop friendship," Ji said. "Now the relations are becoming mature with each passing year and are bound to become even better as it is the popular will and the irresistible tide of the times."

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