• U.S. President Richard Nixon toasts with Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai at a banquet in Beijing during his official visit in February 1972. Communist China has gained substantially more than the U.S. in economic terms from the opening of relations that the visit ushered in, but the U.S. has gained too. | AFP-JIJI
    U.S. President Richard Nixon toasts with Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai at a banquet in Beijing during his official visit in February 1972. Communist China has gained substantially more than the U.S. in economic terms from the opening of relations that the visit ushered in, but the U.S. has gained too. | AFP-JIJI
  • SHARE

CLAREMONT, CALIFORNIA – With China currently the only country capable of unseating America as the leading global power, many in Washington may wish that U.S. President Richard Nixon had never made his historic trip to China 50 years ago this month.

In their revisionist narrative, it was Nixon’s meeting with Communist Party of China Chairman Mao Zedong and the policy of engagement it initiated that helped make China an economic superpower and a geopolitical threat to America. For these critics, the Nixon visit, far from being a stroke of diplomatic genius, was one of history’s greatest strategic blunders.

Unable to view this article?

This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.

Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.

If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see out this support page.

We humbly apologize for the inconvenience.

In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

SUBSCRIBE NOW

PHOTO GALLERY (CLICK TO ENLARGE)

, , ,