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When Henry Kissinger enjoyed his first Peking duck in China’s capital 46 years ago， the window shades of the restaurant and the hotel rooms across the road were all drawn， just in case anybody peering in spotted a foreign face. Back then， China was a nation largely closed off to the outside world and the West in particular. Up until that point， Sino-U.S. relations had been largely confrontational and lacking in diplomacy.
However， this began to change with the signing of the Shanghai Communiquéduring U.S. President Richard Nixon’s extraordinary visit to China in February 1972. Chairman Mao Zedong and President Nixon took the first steps in normalizing relations upon the foundation laid out in the communiqué.
One of its core principles is the oneChina policy， in which the United States recognizes that the Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Straits are part of one China， and the peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people alone. The Shanghai Communiquéalso emphasized mutual respect and cooperation in establishing a more fruitful relationship.
To make the communiqué possible on the U.S. side， Kissinger’s realpolitik transcended ideology and idealism. Despite being a Republican president openly critical of Communism， Nixon was prepared to put political differences aside in reaching out to Beijing. The willingness of Kissinger and Nixon to compromise was a crucial component in establishing the communiqué.
On the Chinese side， Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai also worked hard to achieve this through adopting a pragmatic perspective toward relations with the United States. China shifted its stance toward the United States， as both sides saw an unprecedented opportunity to forge more productive ties.
Based on the set of principles that had been outlined in the Shanghai Communiqué， the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America officially established diplomatic relations on January 1， 1979. This occurred at the start of China’s reform and opening up and paved the way for the subsequent increasing levels of bilateral engagement in the fields of economy， diplomacy and cultural exchange.
Today， the United States and China are the world’s largest and second largest economies， respectively. The Sino-U.S. relationship， therefore， is of key importance to global peace and prosperity.
However， this began to change with the signing of the Shanghai Communiquéduring U.S. President Richard Nixon’s extraordinary visit to China in February 1972. Chairman Mao Zedong and President Nixon took the first steps in normalizing relations upon the foundation laid out in the communiqué.
One of its core principles is the oneChina policy， in which the United States recognizes that the Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Straits are part of one China， and the peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people alone. The Shanghai Communiquéalso emphasized mutual respect and cooperation in establishing a more fruitful relationship.
To make the communiqué possible on the U.S. side， Kissinger’s realpolitik transcended ideology and idealism. Despite being a Republican president openly critical of Communism， Nixon was prepared to put political differences aside in reaching out to Beijing. The willingness of Kissinger and Nixon to compromise was a crucial component in establishing the communiqué.
On the Chinese side， Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai also worked hard to achieve this through adopting a pragmatic perspective toward relations with the United States. China shifted its stance toward the United States， as both sides saw an unprecedented opportunity to forge more productive ties.
Based on the set of principles that had been outlined in the Shanghai Communiqué， the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America officially established diplomatic relations on January 1， 1979. This occurred at the start of China’s reform and opening up and paved the way for the subsequent increasing levels of bilateral engagement in the fields of economy， diplomacy and cultural exchange.
Today， the United States and China are the world’s largest and second largest economies， respectively. The Sino-U.S. relationship， therefore， is of key importance to global peace and prosperity.