As economics and China are bound to be issues that are inextricably tied in the 2012 Presidential Elections it is an apt time to reflect upon Richard Nixon's visit to China 40 years ago:
A Spectacle Rarer Than the Moon
To get an idea of the significance of Nixon's initial trip to China, it is worth noting that in 1972 more official American visits had been made to the moon than to the People's Republic of China. Therefore, Nixon's visit ended 25 years of separation and tensions between the two large nations.
His one-week visit which extended from February 21 to 28, 1972, therefore gave the American public images of China for the first time in those two decades of separation.
The Hawk Extends a Hand of Conciliation
It is interesting that it was Richard Nixon who offered a gesture of conciliation from early on in his presidential campaign. Nixon since 1952 was well established as a hard-liner anti-communist hawk who showed a keen interest in Indochina since the French colonial struggle began there.
Convinced - as was John Foster Dulles - that if Indochina would fall, it would instigate a domino effect, which would see Thailand and the rest of South East Asia fall behind the Iron Curtain. This was his reasoning for fighting at all costs to keep the Red Chinese out of Indochina, and this was his reasoning for supporting the French in their attempt to keep Indochina as their colony.
When the French were defeated in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954, Nixon favoured a nuclear strike but the Eisenhower administration had decided against it.
Before Nixon's famous visit, it was President Eisenhower who was the last president to visit China during his last year in office – the Republic of China (Taiwan) that was, which the United States at that time recognized as the sole governing force over China.
The Realpolitik Aspect
A number of factors contributed to Nixon's decision to offer overtures to the People's Republic of China had to do with Cold War Realpolitik. Whilst Nixon was a staunch anti-communist, he recognized that a formal alliance with China would shift the geopolitics of the Cold War in favour of the United States and may help bring an end to the ongoing embroiling war in Vietnam.
Also China and the Soviet Union had a tense relationship at that time; the Sino-Soviet Split of 1960 had evolved into a border conflict by the late 1960s which saw small but tense engagements, most notably on Damansky-Zhenbao Island. This, along with Soviet threats to launch preemptive surgical strikes on China's nuclear programs, obviously made the Chinese anxious. And an alliance with China may have resulted in the Soviets having to fight a two-front war, something that was a great source of fear for the Kremlin.
In subsequent meetings following the initial and much publicized visit to China, the Nixon Administration worked through gestures to build such alliances, such as making contingency plans to fight the Soviets on Chinese territory if they were to attack and instigate a war between the two giant nations.
Indeed during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the Nixon Administration worked in earnest to show the People's Republic of China the viability of having the United States as an ally against the Soviet Union. That war saw the succession of then East Pakistan into modern Bangladesh, and saw the Soviets supporting the Indians. Through Nixon's eyes, a defeat and capitulation of West Pakistan would mean Soviet domination of the region, so via Iran and Jordan he supplied the Pakistanis with arms. At the same time, he manoeuvered a carrier battle group near the war zone as the Chinese also redeployed military units to their western frontier with the war zone, symbolizing the shared interests both powers had and how such a formal alliance would serve their respective security interests.
Conclusion: The Symbolic Opening
Whilst the one-week visit didn't see Nixon initially discuss much with Mao (who unbeknownst to Nixon was mortally ill) it was symbolic of conciliation, as well as of paving the way to a more constructive relationship between the two countries, rather than a wasteful exchange of aggressive military posturing the United States and China pursued policies that would benefit each other, both economically and geopolitically.
Nixon aptly described this visit as “the week that changed the world.” He wasn't just patting himself on the back when he described it as such. Even though the visit was for the most part merely a symbolic photo shoot it inevitably initiated vast and dynamic changes that have shaped the world that we see and live in today.
Source
- Operation Vulture by John Prados
- A Great Wall - Six Presidents and China: An Investigative History by Patrick Tyler
Paul Iddon - Paul Iddon is a freelance journalist who has an avid interest in history, politics and current affairs.
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