During the month the American team visited China, Beijing proposed a compromise. They sent Washington a message stating that while Taiwan was the prerequisite problem that had to be solved before any relations could be improved, the Chinese government was now interested in direct discussions in order to reach a settlement. On July 9, 1971, National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger arrived in Beijing to work out details for the president’s trip in February 1972. [1]
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During Nixon’s week-long visit[2], the two countries issued the Joint U.S.-China Communique in Shanghai [3]–which indicated that Sino-American relations had begun a new era. In the document, the U.S. compromised on the conflict over Taiwan, stating they acknowledge that “there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of China.” Both nations expressed the desire to abandon regional hegemony and cooperate for peace regardless of ideological differences. “Countries should treat each other with natural respect and be willing to compete peacefully, letting performance be the ultimate judge. No country should claim infallibility and each country should be prepared to reexamine its own attitude for the common good.” |
Impact on the Soviet Union:
Fearing a Sino-American alliance, the Soviet Union unexpectedly invited Nixon to visit Moscow. While there, he and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev formalized compromises on nuclear arms, the environment, space exploration and international trade. All of this only three months after visiting Beijing[4]. |
Jiayong Lu | Senior Division
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