ON THIS DAY ·
Nixon’s visit to China
21 Feb 1972 — Richard Nixon meets Mao in his study for about an hour, only hours after landing in Beijing. Mao is ill, but jokes that he “voted for” Nixon. The week’s banquets and visit to the Great Wall are broadcast live on American television. The enemy of 1950 had become a partner against the Soviet Union.
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The moment in context
Mao’s relationship with Stalin helps explain why the Soviet leader’s condemnation in 1956 was so unsettling. Mao had resented Stalin’s treatment of him, yet he defended Stalin’s legacy when Khrushchev attacked it in a secret speech. A personality cult—the official worship of a living leader, rather like the reverence owed a divine king—was also part of Mao’s own authority. If Stalin could be condemned for such a cult, Mao might face the same criticism.
From Sino-Soviet split and Nixon in China, chapter 11 of The People’s Republic under Mao, 1949–1976 (1972).
The place: Nixon’s visit to China — map and full story →
Teach this in 5 minutes
- Why it happened — Mao and Khrushchev read 1956 differently. Khrushchev’s condemnation of Stalin and peaceful coexistence with the West suggested to Mao that Moscow was retreating from revolution. The…
- The turn — Zhenbao Island, March 1969. Beijing planned the 2 March ambush on Zhenbao Island as a warning. The Soviet response on 15 March was heavy; the August clash at Tielieketi and…
- What it changed — Nixon in Beijing. Nixon’s week in China in February 1972 ended two decades of American refusal to deal with the People’s Republic. The Shanghai Communiqué set out…
Then ask the room: Why did Mao, the champion of world revolution, welcome Richard Nixon to Beijing in 1972? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
The atlas that shows it
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