當年今日﹕President Nixon visits China

<轉載自2016年2月22日 明報 加東版 港聞版>

On 21 February 1972 Richard Nixon (尼克遜) became the first US president to visit the People's Republic of China (中華人民共和國). An epoch-making event in the cold war (冷戰) era, the visit helped kick-start relations between the two nations.

Chinese-US relations: after the year 1949

The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. A socialist (社會主義的) country founded on Karl Marx's (馬克思) principles, it came into military conflict the next year with the United States, the world's most powerful capitalist (資本主義的) nation, in the Korean War (韓戰).

Back then the PRC was not recognised internationally. The government of the Republic of China (中華民國), which had retreated to Taiwan, remained China's legitimate government in the view of the world community. But that ceased to be the case on 25 October 1971, when the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 (聯合國大會2758號決議案) was adopted. Under the Resolution, the PRC is "the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations". The US government, nevertheless, maintained diplomatic ties with the Republic of China.

Nixon's China visit

Despite the ideological differences, the two countries were keen to improve relations with each other. No sooner had Richard Nixon been elected US President in 1968 than he started planning to visit China. Henry Kissinger (基辛格), then National Security Advisor, had made a secret visit to Beijing in July 1971. During that visit he met with Zhou Enlai (周恩來), then premier of China. Nixon announced his plan to visit China the following year.

Nixon's China visit began on 21 February 1972. China was still in the midst of the disastrous Cultural Revolution (文化大革命), in which hundreds of thousands of people were to be persecuted (迫害) to death. Nixon travelled to Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai and met with Chinese leader Mao Zedong (毛澤東), while First Lady Pat Nixon toured schools, factories and hospitals.

At the conclusion of his trip, the US and the PRC governments issued the Shanghai Communique (上海公報). The document says, "Progress toward the normalisation (正常化) of relations between China and the United States is in the interests of all countries."

Subsequent events

Nixon's China visit was one of his major achievements on the diplomatic front. He was re-elected later that year, but was soon forced to resign from office amidst the Watergate scandal (水門醜聞).

It was Jimmy Carter (卡特), who became president in 1977, that severed the US's relations with the Republic of China, recognised the PRC and established diplomatic relations with the latter. Ronald Reagan (列根, picture), who succeeded Carter, signed the August 17 communique with the Chinese government, reaffirming the desire of both sides to further strengthen economic, cultural, educational, scientific and technological ties.

Issues that have affected Chinese-US relations in recent decades include the June Fourth incident, Taiwan Strait Crisis, the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, the Hainan Island incident (a mid-air collision between US and Chinese aircraft that happened in 2001), the 911 attacks and incumbent US President Barack Obama's policy of the US "returning to Asia Pacific".