A Summary Of President Nixon's Visit To China

On February 21,1972 President Nixon visited The People’s Republic of China. Although the Chinese communist government had not been formally recognized by the United States since 1949, Nixon saw an opportunity to make changes. Nixon had multiple goals for this visit. Nixon wanted more than just new relations with China, but he believed that these new relations would give the U.S. leverage with the Soviet Union. The United States, with the Soviet Union as its primary adversary, saw an opportunity with the recent tension between the Soviet Union and China. President Nixon believed we could take unique action to take advantage of this tension to the benefit of the United States. During the time Nixon had been planning to visit China, he also had a plan to be the first president to visit Moscow to discuss policies.
The visit to China had been filmed to maximize the political benefit of the visit. Hoping that it would be watched around the world, he wanted to seize on the significance of this historic breakthrough in international relations.
Nixon had planned it all perfectly. “I knew that Zhou had been deeply insulted by Foster Dulles’s refusal to shake hands with him at the Geneva Conference in 1954. When I reached the bottom step, therefore, I made a point of extending my hand as I walked toward him. When our hands met, one era ended and another began,” said Richard M. Nixon, knowing that the two countries were entering a new era. His meeting with Premier Zhou EnLai, and Mao ZeDong, which created a new relationship between the United States and China, was a huge success in the eyes of the American public.
The United States opening of relations with China saw several benefits.
For one, Opening up diplomatic relations set the stage of the vast chinese market to be open to american businesses. The vast population of China was an untapped market, that now had the potential to be open for American trade opportunities. Relations with the Chinese was more than just for business benefits, this was also a strategic plan for leverage on the Communist Soviets. The United States would be taking leverage on the Soviet Union by extending a hand to another communist party, or by exploiting their rivalry and taking advantage to American benefit. Politically, Nixon was able to prove his pragmatism as a great statesman by reaching out to a totalitarian communist regime in the greater interest of American security and strategic interests. This is particularly noteworthy in light of President Nixon’s reputation as a hard anti-communist cold
warrior.
The Chinese market was an untouched business opportunity by a majority of the world, when President Nixon took course on new relations with China, it opened a new arena of business for the United States. The potential of gaining the vast chinese market as a business opportunity would be strengthening The United States’ economy greatly. With China, the trade opportunities are endless.
The communist Soviets are perceived as a large threat to U.S. diplomacy, and we knew that creating relations with China would provide us with leverage on our adversaries. Nixon knew the background disputes China had with the Soviets, and took advantage of this tension. From opening to China, we were able to engage with the Soviet Union with a stronger hand. “We want to have the Chinese with us when we sit down and negotiate with the Russians,” after the success of forming relations with China, Nixon’s plans to travel to Moscow took place. Leonid Brezhnev, the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party had greeted Nixon on his arrival in May. It took days, but eventually Nixon and Brezhnev had the outcome of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) treaty. This treaty was great progress in relations with the Soviet Union, which had the purpose of showing cooperation between the two Cold War adversaries in reducing nuclear weapons. Nixon’s departure from Moscow took place on May 30th, knowing his great triumph with these new foreign relations.
Politically, Nixon proved himself as a pragmatic leader. The public thrived in his contribution to foreign policy, and the United States as a whole had the chance to take advantage of this new opportunity. Nixon’s accomplishment changed more than just the country’s security, economic opportunities, and politically, but it changed the view on Nixon himself. Nixon was re-elected as president in November, giving us another chance to see how he can lead this country.