Jimmy Carter's presidency, life remembered

Jimmy Carter, former United States president and Nobel Peace laureate who regarded normalizing US relations with China as one of his greatest feats, died at his home in Plains, Georgia, on Sunday. He was 100.

The longest-lived US president is survived by his children Jack, Chip, Jeff and Amy, 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife Rosalynn and one grandchild.

"My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love," said Chip Carter.

In a statement on Sunday, US President Joe Biden called on people in search of the purpose and meaning of life to "study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility".

Late on Sunday, Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng sent condolences to the family of the former president.

"President Carter saw establishing diplomatic relations with China as one of the most correct decisions he had ever made in his life. His historic contribution to the normalization and development of China-US relations will always be remembered by the Chinese people," Xie wrote on X on Sunday. "May he rest in peace, and may his legacy live on."

The native of the farming town of Plains became the 39th US president in 1977. He went on to steer an administration that secured the Panama Canal treaties for the major waterway, the Camp David Accords covering peace-oriented agreements between Israel and Egypt, the SALT II arms limit treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of US diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

To some of his contemporaries, the passing of the champion of US-China relations has tinged the "Carter era" with a nostalgic hue, given the setbacks in recent years in the "world's most consequential bilateral relations", which Carter had worked to improve in and out of office.

In February 2023, Carter opted to spend his final days at his Georgia home and received hospice care.

Messages of support have since poured into The Carter Center from throughout the US and beyond, wishing peace and comfort to a man who they believed had tremendous impact on their lives.

Carter was a submarine officer when he first visited China in April 1949, and he said he had been fascinated with the country ever since.

"One of the most compelling facets of my life has been my relationship with China," he wrote in his book A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety. "My interest in the region was rekindled with my early visit as a submariner, and I continued to follow Chinese history."

It turns out that Carter became a household name in China, known for his historic vision and audacity in normalizing diplomatic relations between the two countries during his presidency on Jan 1, 1979, and the post-presidency charity projects in China through The Carter Center.

In his White House diaries and other books, Carter chronicled the most exciting and yet secret negotiations that led to the normalization of relations with China.