After the United States and China signed the Shanghai Communique 50 years ago, in February 1972, the U.S. pursued a policy of engagement with Beijing, hoping that China would become both a part of the existing international order and a democratic state in step with its economic growth.
Such a stance, addressed by Henry Kissinger, the U.S. president’s national security adviser at the time, has largely changed course today.
This year also marks 50 years since Japan and China normalized diplomatic ties in September 1972 after Washington and Beijing began moving closer to one another in the early 1970s.