On This Day: Nixon Leaves for China

Diplomatic relations between the United States and China were anemic before Nixon’s presidency, according to PBS. When Mao Tse Tung and the Communists declared the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the United States chose a “wait-and-see” strategy.

Relations soured during the Korean War, as the Chinese fought alongside the North Koreans against U.S. and UN forces.

In the 1950s, Washington implemented a trade embargo on China while continuing to aid exiled Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and his Republic of China government in Taiwan.

Former allies, China and the Soviet Union parted ways in the 1960s because of “differences over security, ideology, and development models,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Mao’s radical Great Leap Forward isolated the Soviets, and border clashes erupted between the two nations, encouraging closer U.S.-Sino relations.

In April 1971, China invited members of the U.S. pingpong team to the country, marking the beginning of “Pingpong Diplomacy.”

In July that same year, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger secretly traveled to the country to lay the groundwork for Nixon’s trip a year later.

The People’s Republic of China gained further international acceptance once the UN admitted the republic as a member nation and expelled Taiwan. America also lifted its trade embargo.

In what proved to be a monumental public relations success, President Nixon arrived in Beijing on Feb. 21, 1972, to begin his eight-day diplomatic trip. Nixon met with Mao, and the two leaders signed the Shanghai Communiqué, which set the stage for stronger relations and recognized Taiwan as part of China under the “one China policy.”

An article from Time commented on Nixon’s Chinese summit: “Never, perhaps, have two men who so dramatically epitomize the conflicting forces of modern history ever sat as equals at one negotiating table.” Time went on to say, “Even if nothing happens at their meeting … the reopening of a U.S.-China dialogue has fundamentally altered the power structure of the globe.”

Richard Nixon (1913–1994)

Richard Nixon was born in 1913 in California. Following a stint in the Navy, he joined the House of Representatives and became head of the House Committee on Un-American Activities with the intent of weeding Communists out of American politics. He was later elected to the Senate and then became vice president to Dwight Eisenhower. His political career suffered when he lost the presidency to John F. Kennedy and then failed to win the California gubernatorial race. Nonetheless, he was elected president in 1968 and won re-election in 1972. He was responsible for pulling troops out of Vietnam, molding a successful diplomatic relationship with China, and beginning the détente policy with the USSR. However, his career is forever marred by the Watergate scandal and his subsequent resignation from office in 1974. Nixon died in 1994.

Henry Kissinger (1923–)

Henry Kissinger was secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and assistant to the president for national security affairs from 1969 until 1975. Born in Germany in 1923, Kissinger came to the United States in 1938. He has played an integral role in U.S. foreign policy, encouraging pragmatism in foreign affairs while promoting “both conventional and nuclear forces to respond to Communist aggression, rather than resorting to threats of massive nuclear retaliation.” He has received a number of awards for his efforts in international relations, including the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in ending the Vietnam War.

Mao Tse Tung (1893–1976)

Mao Tse Tung was born in 1893 in the Hunan Province of China. He learned about socialism during his days in the army, and eventually became involved in the Communist movement. He excelled at rallying the support of peasants and advocating for a rural, as opposed to urban, revolution. According to the Asia Society, Mao was able to utilize “the crisis of the Japanese invasion and the weakness of Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government.” In 1949, Mao declared the founding of the People's Republic of China. He undertook a plan to eliminate the rural gentry as a class and create a “permanent underclass of former landlords.” His efforts to collectivize agriculture during the Great Leap Forward of 1957 caused mass starvation. Mao’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution began in 1966, which sought to re-invigorate the party leadership with Mao’s ideals. It created great social upheaval and violence. Mao died in 1976.