Late US President Richard Nixon's one-week visit to China
February 21 to 28, 1972, has been described as one small step for a
man but one giant leap for two countries.
Nixon's achievement could well be considered as far-reaching as
US astronaut Neil Armstrong's one small step as the first person on
the Moon.
Nixon's ice-breaking China trip was the start of detente between
the United States and China. With an eye toward history, Nixon
called his historic 1972 visit "the week that changed the
world".
For eight days and nights, American television audiences tuned
in to a spectacular parade of images from China, the first they had
seen in more than 20 years.
The Chinese media devoted unprecedented attention to the visit.
While few Chinese owned television sets, they listened to radio
broadcasts and read newspapers, which featured front-page stories
and photographs of the US and Chinese leaders' summit.
The handshake between Nixon and Chinese leaders heralded the
beginning of a new journey for China-US ties and for friendship
between the two peoples.
The handshake between Nixon and Zhou Enlai at the Beijing
airport, arranged meticulously by the US side, was at least as
powerful as Armstrong's lunar step. It sent the world a clear
message that the two countries were resolved to move forward with
relations.
It was a remedy for the arrogance of then Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles, who refused an arrangement for a handshake with
Zhou in Geneva in 1954.
During the Nixon visit, the two countries issued the Shanghai Communique. It expressed what the
leaders had agreed to as well as their divides on bilateral and
international issues.
Nixon's visit to China and the Shanghai Communique became a
milestone in Sino-US relations. It laid a foundation for the
establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and
the further development of the ties.
Nixon's visit came at a time when the two superpowers, the US
and the former Soviet Union, were seeking hegemony. In
consideration of its own strategic interests, the US changed its
China policy from conflict to dialogue in the final four decades of
the last century, a shift that helped put Sino-US relations on the
right track.
Nixon's handshake of 35 years ago continues to be felt as China
and the United States continue to explore new possibilities for
their relationships in a vastly different world.
(China Daily March 2, 2007)
