Vigorous Cold War handshakes: Reviewing Nixon's 1972 China trip.

摘要

The purpose of this study is to reexamine former United States (U.S.) President Richard Milhous Nixon's historic trip to the People's Republic of China (P.R.C.). Although his administration is most often remembered for its involvement in the Watergate scandal, during his first term, Nixon diverted from his previous staunchly anti-Communistic Cold War mindset to reopen diplomatic relations with Chairman Mao Zedong's nation. This narrative focuses attention on how one of the world's most powerful leaders decided to sit down with his ideological enemy to peacefully discuss their differences. Nixon's move not only lessened international tensions, but also allowed for greater economic prosperity in Asia rather than further animosity and bloodshed. In planning and carrying out this new initiative, the administration utilized a methodology that relied on secrecy.;Initial planning for this shocking diplomatic opening with the P.R.C. was conducted in secret. In 1971, Dr. Henry A. Kissinger traveled incognito to arrange an official agenda for his boss. The announcement that the president planned to make this journey into communist territory the following spring shocked many in the U.S. Nixon, until this point, had always been a strong Republican politician, who also happened to espouse a vehemently anti-Communistic viewpoint. Reactions to his speech varied across the country and around the world. Living as they did in the Cold War era, American citizens also registered surprise because this trip occurred while the Vietnam War raged in Asia, and the Mainland Chinese supported their ideological North Vietnamese brothers' efforts. After Nixon made his announcement, diplomatic and political winds began shifting in the Pacific region. And, even before he left America in February 1972, Taiwan had already lost its seat to the P.R.C. in the United Nations the previous fall.;The following pages discuss the personalities and motivations of the major players in this early 1970s drama, namely Nixon, Kissinger, Mao, and Premier Zhou Enlai. This work also reviews: why these important world leaders diverted so sharply from their established patterns of behavior at this particular time, why these men of diametrically-opposing ideologies ultimately decided to agree to summit talks, and how they then overcame their prejudicial attitudes and took a chance at greater world peace by utilizing international diplomatic methods. The information is broken into several broad time frames, with each chapter focusing on a different stage of this event. This work might be termed not only a social history, but also a reception history, as many of the details provided were culled from media sources first appearing in 1971 and 1972, and highlight how people around the world both received and then reacted to Nixon's startling pronouncements and actions. The research necessary to complete this type of project required exploring many primary and secondary sources. The information, once gathered, was then formulated to present a narrative following a social historian's point of view. President Richard Nixon's gutsy, yet controversial decision to visit Mao Zedong's China in 1972, because it significantly altered international perceptions of the P.R.C., should be remembered as both a personal triumph of this president's political career, but more importantly, as a major turning point in world history.;National media sources were invited to cover the story that wintery week, yet journalists soon reported frustration at the lack of "hard news" being officially released about the president's diplomatic activities. Nixon wanted documentation of this important event for posterity, but only a limited number of media personnel accompanied the president's entourage. They provided live coverage of his arrival and the sumptuous banquets, but reporters soon grew frustrated as Nixon administration officials withheld details about the actual plenary session results. Domestic audiences also soon lost interest in the story, as they had their own life adventures to survive.;This American president took his first controversial, politically risky, but brave step toward reopening direct communications with the P.R.C. despite facing strong opposition to this idea from his many critics. Although the later Watergate scandal left an indelible mark on Nixon's long and distinguished public record, it is important to avoid focusing entirely upon this one single issue when assessing the worth of his presidency. The Watergate scandal had been settled for two decades by the time the former president passed away. During that time, he worked diligently to rehabilitate his image with the American people. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)