1972 visit by Richard Nixon to China
Early in his first term, Nixon, through his National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, sent subtle overtures hinting at warmer relations to the government of the PRC.
Throughout the week the President and his senior advisers engaged in substantive discussions with the PRC leadership, including a meeting with CCP chairman Mao Zedong, while First Lady Pat Nixon toured schools, factories and hospitals in the cities of Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai with the large American press corps in tow.
Writing on the 40th anniversary of the trip, Jeffrey Bader said that the basic bargain to put common interests ahead of ideology and values which both Nixon and Mao sought had been substantially held by both the Democratic and Republican parties.
[3] Also, a "Nixon to China" moment has since become a metaphor to refer to the ability of a politician with an unassailable reputation among their supporters for representing and defending their values to take actions that would draw their criticism and even opposition if taken by someone without those credentials.
[6] Richard Nixon earned a reputation as a strong anti-communist in the late 1940s and as vice-president to Dwight Eisenhower, yet in 1972 he became the first U.S. president to visit mainland China while in office.
[13] For this ambitious goal to be reached President Nixon had carried out a series of carefully calibrated moves through Communist China's allies Romania and Pakistan.
[17] President Nixon, his wife, and their entourage left the White House on February 17, 1972, spending a night at Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station in Oahu, Hawaii.
They arrived the next day in Guam at 5 pm, where they spent the night at Nimitz Hill Annex, the residence of the Commander Naval Forces Marianas.
[25] February 27 marked the joint issuing of the Shanghai Communiqué, in which both nations pledged to work toward the full normalization of diplomatic policy and acknowledged longstanding differences over Taiwan.
The statement allowed the U.S. and PRC to temporarily set aside the "crucial question obstructing the normalization of relations"[26] concerning its political status in order to open trade and other contacts.
[27]Within a year after Nixon's visit, a number of U.S. allies including Japan, Australia, and West Germany broke relations with Taiwan in order to establish diplomatic ties with China.
The media coverage of the trip was overwhelmingly positive and presented Nixon communicating with Chinese government officials, attending dinners, and being accorded tours with other people of influence.
[30] This resulted in putting off deliberations over the establishment of a hotline between DC and Beijing, which was first proposed during the visit to China and discussed between Kissinger and Zhou in November 1973 meetings.
In fall 1971, Vietnam Prime Minister Phạm Văn Đổng had unsuccessfully asked Mao to cancel the planned Nixon visit.
[36] As prospects of China-U.S. rapprochement improved following the visit, China's focus on its Third Front campaign to develop basic and heavy industry in its rugged interior gradually declined.
