Topic: Nixon's Visit to China (1972) History Research Paper

NIXONS VISIT TO CHINA
Xikun Wang
SISU-212-002
10/29/2020
The Presidential visit by Nixon to China in 1972 set the stage for strategic engagement between America and the People’s Republic of China. This was a first step in a series of events that would normalize the ties among the two countries. China was by then headed by a communist party that grabbed power from their nationalist counterparts through a civil war in 1949. As a result, the United States was a sworn enemy of the PRC based on its communist links. Furthermore, the potential of communism to spread in Asia and Europe also posed a significant risk to the United States due to the differences in ideologies. However, a potential falling out between the PRC and the Soviets along their borders provided an opportunity for the U.S. to befriend China and undermine the Soviets. As a result, the Nixon visit to China enabled the United States to influence the largest communist powers and improve its position as a global driver of democracy and liberal rights.[Connolly, Chris. “The American Factor: Sino-American Rapprochement and Chinese Attitudes to the Vietnam War, 1968–72.” Cold War History 5, no.4, 2005: 502]
Historical factors Surrounding the Visit
The war between North and South Vietnam caused complications, with the South exceedingly overwhelmed by its aggressors. The PRC and the Soviet Union supported the North with both monetary and military assistance against the South. The aim was to increase the communist base in Asia by influencing South Vietnam. However, conflicts began to form between the PRC and the Soviets leading to a confrontation. With the United States unable to adequately provide a lasting solution to the war, this conflict provided an opportunity to leverage the Soviet Union. A meeting with the Soviets was continually undermined and delayed; thus, this offered a chance for the U.S. to quicken things up and sign the necessary agreements with them. By intervening and meeting with the PRC, the U.S. could create a rift between the two nations slowing down the continued spread of communism. Gaining leverage over the soviets would enable the United States to impose their abilities over issues such as the Vietnam war. This means that having China as an ally would enable it to use them as a medium to contain Vietnam. Additionally, this also provided an opportunity for China to gain a partner to prevent the possibility of attacks from the Soviets based on their growing hostilities. An alliance would also improve trade relations enabling the economic growth of China after a series of devastating civil wars and isolation over the years.[Connolly, Sino-American Rapprochement, 504] [Connolly, 502]
The Main Actors in the Visit
President Nixon had previously toured Asia and met with the Pakistan leader, Ayub Khan, who had strong ties to the PRC. Based on his relationship, he expressed the desire for China to be engaged through a relationship with the U.S.. As a result, this relationship provided the required jolt for President Nixon to start setting up plans for the meeting in 1972. Since there were no diplomatic ties between the two countries, a secret channel was set up using Khan as a conduit to pass messages between them. The need to keep the planned rapprochement plans secret from the public and other parts of government was to ensure that no outside party would interfere in the process. Khan thus played an integral part and passed on information regarding the requests and plans that each party had paving the way for further engagements.[Office of the Historian, Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States: Vol. E-7, Documents on South Asia, 1969–1972, /historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve07/ch1] [Margaret MacMillan. Nixon and Mao: The Week that Changed the World. (New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2008), 26]
Apart from that, the National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, had a diplomatic approach towards the making of foreign policy. Being a trusted member of President Nixon’s team, he was entrusted with making the first secret meeting to China on their invitation request. Kissinger’s trip was one of the most guarded secrets and involved meticulous planning to prevent any leakage of information about the trip. As a result, the success of this trip showed the ability and willingness of the PRC to negotiate with the United States. This further enabled the planning of Nixon’s visit with the completion of two secret meetings by Kissinger in Beijing.[Office of the Historian, Foreign Relations of the United States]
The China Premier, Zhou Enlai, also played a significant role in the success of the meeting. Zhou regularly communicated with Khan based on their close relationship as neighbours. This enabled the passing of messages secretly from Beijing to Washington. Zhou also invited Kissinger to Beijing for their secret meeting that discussed issues surrounding the normalization between the two countries. The setting up of discussions ensured that all the contentious issues were placed on the table for discussion with possible solutions that were to be agreed upon before the Nixon visit. With Zhou negotiating for China, their issues, including Taiwan, were brought forward and aptly set as the minimum for further negotiations.[Chris Tudda. A Cold War Turning Point: Nixon and China, 1969-1972. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2012), 87]
Lastly, the table tennis teams from the both the PRC and America also assisted in what was later defined as ping pong diplomacy. The symbolism as interpreted by the invitation to China broke down all barriers toward the rapprochement enabling further engagement. Reduced travel restrictions enabled the visit to occur with the team visiting major sights in Beijing and Shanghai. This visit also showed that there could be an understanding between countries with significantly different ideologies and outlooks over world affairs. Therefore, with the success of the trips and the subsequent invitation of the Chinese team to America, the path was clear for President Nixon to visit China as planned.[Tudda, Nixon and China, 70]
Characteristics of the Event
Nixon’s trip started with a visit to Chairman Mao, who was the leader of the PRC together with Zhou. Further discussions involved Nixon and Zhou as the principals ...