Richard Nixon Visits China and the Shanghai Communiqué Is Issued

American and People's Republic of China representatives had held intermittent ambassadorial talks before Nixon's visit. [1] [2]

Richard Nixon travelled to China in February 1972 and met Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. An American president was speaking directly with leaders whose government Washington still did not recognize. At the end of the visit, the two sides acknowledged their disagreements and their intention to improve relations in the Shanghai Communiqué. [2]

The opening had taken years to prepare. The United States continued to recognize the Republic of China on Taiwan after the Communist victory on the mainland in 1949. By the late 1960s, conflict between China and the Soviet Union, together with America’s war in Vietnam, gave Washington and Beijing reasons to reconsider their estrangement. [2]

Pakistan helped carry secret messages between Washington and Beijing. In the spring of 1971, an American table tennis team visited China; Henry Kissinger followed on a secret mission in July to prepare the presidential journey. Taiwan remained unsettled after Nixon’s visit, and negotiations toward diplomatic relations continued. [2]

The two governments opened liaison offices in 1973 to sustain contact while negotiations toward formal diplomatic relations continued. [1]

Related Diplomats

1. James C. H. Shen [3] [4]
2. Agha Hilaly [5]

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