Nixon And China

Nixon and China Ryan Krahn

Dec. 7, 2009

Introduction • • • • •

The unofficial opening of relations with the People’s Republic of China and Nixon’s visit there in 1972 were probably the highlight of the Nixon administration The announcement in 1971 that the President’s national security advisor had visited China and that the President himself would be visiting in 1972 was a surprise not only to the public, but to many diplomats Nixon’s visit to China in 1972 painted the president as a dynamic and capable leader with admirable perspective on world affairs Strategically speaking, Washington’s move was aimed at capitalizing on an opportunity to gain an “ally” against the Soviet Union Nixon saw it as necessary to create an open world in which 800,000,000 people would not live in “angry isolation”

Background •

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Diplomatic relations had not been maintained between China and the United States since the Communist victory shortly after World War II o Main differences were ideological o Practical differences were centered on American recognition of Taiwan Tensions between the Soviet Union and China were increasing during the late 1960s o Sino-Soviet split was widening as a result of ideological differences o Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in May 1968 and subsequent “Brezhnev Doctrine” gave China reason to fear attack by the Soviet Union o Border skirmish along the Ussuri River in early 1969 significantly heightened tensions  This gave China real cause to seek normalization of relations with the United States  Kissinger and Nixon recognized this as an opportunity President Nixon o Established his reputation as a virulent anti-communist early in his political career o Wrote in an article in Foreign Affairs in 1967 that the United States would have to find a way to open doors with China o Strong dislike for the state department for personal reasons, but also because he believed it had no vision (“If the State Department has had a new idea in the last twenty-five years, it is not known to me,” Holdridge 32) Henry Kissinger o The President’s assistant for national security, head of the National Security Council

Saw normalization of relations with China primarily in terms of its potential strategic benefits o Managed Nixon’s most important foreign relations files in light of the president’s disdain for the State Department Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai o Mao Zedong was the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and China’s leader o Zhou Enlai was the premier of China and responsible for much of the day-to-day operations of the government o

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Opening the channels • • • •

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China and the United States had maintained low-level communications via their embassies in Warsaw since the revolution, but these had been suspended in January 1969 Nixon came to office intending to open relations with China o Had Kissinger initiate a study of US-China relations (NSSM 14) almost immediately The United States sent several diplomatic signals to China indicating its willingness to initiate talks aimed at negotiating a normalized relationship Breakthrough occurred in late 1970 o Nixon mentioned to president of Pakistan, a close Chinese ally, his desire for improved relations with China during a UN summit in New York o China responded through this same channel in December, agreeing to host a US emissary Prior to the American visit, Zhou Enlai arranged a meeting of the US and Chinese ping-pong teams in Japan o Led to reciprocal US and Chinese visits to both countries o Chinese initiative to claim some of the credit for seeking more peaceful relations

Kissinger’s visit • • • • •

Kissinger secretly visited China during a tour of Asia o Goal was to lay the groundwork for an eventual visit by Nixon Shook hands with Zhou Enlai o Chinese had memory of 1954 incident where US Secretary of State Dulles had refused to shake Zhou’s hand Progress was made on Taiwan, the most important issue for China o Agreement that US “does not challenge” the position of one China Joint statement was agreed upon announcing a visit by President Nixon to China in 1972 Visit was made public on July 15, 1971, in a speech by Nixon where he announced that he had been invited to visit China in the following year o Prior to this point, the State Department had been completely unaware of the White House initiative to open relations with China

Nixon’s visit •

Nixon visited China in February 1972

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Nixon and Kissinger met Mao on the day they arrived o Indication of Mao’s blessing on the ongoing process, as he was normally quite reclusive Zhou Enlai hosted a welcome banquet that evening Main business of the visit was the formulation of a draft communiqué o Taiwan became the main sticking point o Resolution came in the form of separate US and Chinese positions in the final version Shanghai Communiqué capped off the visit, urging further normalization of relations

Aftermath •

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Liaison offices between China and the United States were opened in 1973 o These offices were simply trade missions and not full diplomatic embassies o Flew the flag, had diplomatic immunity, secure communications, etc., but no ambassador o Intention was to open the door to full diplomatic relations Full diplomatic relations were established in 1979 under Jimmy Carter and Deng Xiaoping

Conclusion •

Public reaction was overwhelmingly positive o

Suddenly, White House was able to send speakers to American university campuses to talk about China

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Nixon had been partially motivated by desire for the public approval that a major foreign policy victory would gain him

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Americans could claim positive results with the Soviets in the form of movement towards arms reductions talks (SALT-I)

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Several Asian nations expressed concern over American deal-making with Communists

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Taiwan’s shock had been expected, but South Korea was also unnerved

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Japan was put off that the United States had beaten it to the punch

Normalization of US-China relations was mainly due to Nixon’s own initiative o

Kissinger acted as the executor of Nixon’s intentions on foreign policy

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State Department was mostly kept out of the loop when it came to China

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Opening of talks with China was a major foreign policy victory for Nixon o

According to Time magazine, it “altered many of the major assumptions and patterns of postwar diplomacy” (“Nixon's Coup: To Peking for Peace,” July 26, 1971)

Selected Readings Holdridge, John H. Crossing the Divide: An Insider’s Account of the Normalization of U.S.-China Relations. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997. Kissinger, Henry A. White House Years. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1979. MacMillan, Margaret. Nixon in China: The Week the Changed the World. Toronto: Viking, 2006. Tucker, Nancy B., ed. China Confidential: American Diplomats and Sino-American Relations, 1945-1996. New York: Columbia UP, 2001.