Diemazz

Richard Nixon meets with Mao Zedong in 1972.

President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China was the first step in formally normalizing relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. It also marked the first time a U.S. president had visited the PRC, who at that time considered the U.S. one of its biggest enemies. The visit has become a metaphor for an unexpected and uncharacteristic action by a politican.

Meeting

In July 1971, U.S. President Nixon's National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger secretly visited Beijing during a trip to Pakistan, and laid the groundwork for Nixon's visit to China. Almost as soon as the American president arrived in the Chinese capital he was summoned for a meeting with Chairman Mao who, unknown to the Americans, had been ill nine days earlier but was at that point feeling strong enough to meet Nixon. Secretary of State William P. Rogers was excluded from this meeting and the only other American present was National Security Council staffer (and later U.S. Ambassador to China) Winston Lord. To avoid embarrassing Rogers, Lord was cropped out of all the official photographs of the meeting.^[1]

Richard Nixon and Zhou Enlai speaking at a banquet

From February 21 to February 28, 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon traveled to Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Nixon held many meetings with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai during the trip, which included visits to the Great Wall, Hangzhou, and Shanghai. At the conclusion of his trip, the United States and the PRC Governments issued the Shanghai Communiqué, a statement of their foreign policy views and a document that was to prove to remain the basis of Sino-American bilateral relations for many years. In the communiqué, both nations pledged to work toward the full normalization of diplomatic relations. The U.S. acknowledged the notion that all Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait maintain that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China. Nixon and the U.S. government reaffirmed their interests in a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question agreed by the Chinese themselves. The statement enabled the U.S. and PRC to temporarily set aside the "crucial question obstructing the normalization of relations"^[2] concerning the political status of Taiwan and to open trade and other contacts. However, the United States continued to maintain official relations with the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan until 1979 when the U.S. broke off relations with the Republic of China and established full diplomatic relations with the P.R.C.

Pat Nixon in the People's Republic of China

Max Frankel of The New York Times received the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his coverage of the event. The visit inspired John Adams' 1987 opera Nixon in China.

References

Further reading

• Burr, William (1999) The Kissinger Transcripts, New Press
• MacMillan, Margaret (2007) Nixon & Mao: The Week that Changed the World, Random House
• Mann, James (1999)About Face, Knopf
• Nixon, Richard (1978) RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, Grosset & Dunlap
• Tyler, Patrick (1999) A Great Wall, Public Affairs
• Dallek, Robert (2007). Nixon and Kissinger : partners in power. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060722304. 
• Drew, Elizabeth (2007). Richard M. Nixon. New York: Times Books. ISBN 0805069631. 

See also

• Ping Pong Diplomacy
• Sino-American relations

External links

• Webcast: Nixon in China Council on Foreign Relations
• Interactive, Educational Site on Nixon's Legendary 1972 Visit to China

Site Map: RSS 2.0

Recent Searches: 1972 Nixon visit to China
29th century BC
1992 Green Bay Packers season
Kaila Yu
1998 in film
1967
Armstrong Whitworth Siskin
Volunteer Force (Great Britain)
Siouxsie Sioux
Image:Meishin Expwy Route Sign svg

Related Pages: