The Myth of Nixon's Opening of China

Abstract

On February 21, 1972 the international political environment was forever changed when President Richard Nixon arrived in Beijing in the first public display of diplomatic relations between communist China and the United States since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1950. However, the significance of Nixon's actions in the opening of China has been systematically mischaracterized within the historical conversation at large. This presentation seeks to reevaluate the traditional historical narrative by placing Nixon's willingness to engage with a revolutionary communist regime within the broader context of the evolving nature of post-War bipolarity, US containment policy, and the perpetual impetus to project American influence globally. In reconsidering these actions, the opening of China can now be viewed in a different light; one that does not represent a complete break with United States foreign policy during the Cold War.