Mitigating Tensions in the Pacific

If President Nixon’s July 15th, 1971 announcement of his trip to China was a surprise to the USA, it was a shock to Japan. As Minoru Kusuda, then Chief Secretary to Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, said in 1996: “[T]here was a joke circulating among Japanese diplomats that...

Strengthening the Bridge that Nixon Built

During the car ride from the Beijing Airport on February 21, 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai turned to President Nixon and said, “Your handshake came over the vastest ocean in the world—twenty five years of no communication.” Nixon’s week-long trip to China built a bridge...

In China With Christopher Nixon Cox

Yesterday saw the conclusion of the ten-day visit of President Nixon’s grandson Christopher Nixon Cox, heading a party of forty visitors, to the People’s Republic of China. The group, traveling under the auspices of the Richard Nixon Foundation, included...

Creating the Shanghai Communiqué

President Nixon and Dr. Kissinger with Premier Chou En-lai meeting on the Shanghai Communiqué. The Joint Communiqué of the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China, more commonly referred to as the Shanghai Communiqué, is one of the most...