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50 years since Nixon visited China

In February 1972, US president Richard Nixon defied conventional foreign policy wisdom when he arrived in Beijing for meetings with Chinese leader Mao Zedong. In recognition of the trip’s historical significance, the South China Morning Post is running a multimedia series exploring interesting points of the past 50 years in US-China relations.

Updated: 06 Apr, 2022
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Winston Lord, in the room with Mao and Nixon, on US-China relations then and now

‘We opened up for geopolitical, economic, security reasons, and we hoped – as an added plus – this would loosen up the Chinese political system. But engagement was not preconditioned on that.’

20 Feb, 2022
Illustration: Kakuen Lau
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How landmark Shanghai Communique shaped China-US ties for past 50 years

Joint statement released on last day of US president’s visit in 1972 is arguably the most important breakthrough agreement in the history of US-China relations.

28 Feb, 2022
The Shanghai Communique, drafted by Zhou Enlai and Henry Kissinger, became arguably the most important breakthrough agreement in the history of the US-China relations. Image: SCMP Graphic
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Explainer | How Nixon’s visit to China 50 years ago changed the world forever

In 1972 the first visit to the communist country by then-US president Richard Nixon is what Nixon described as “The week that changed the world.”

01 Mar, 2022
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50 years of panda diplomacy: the softest power meets hard reality

Lingling and Xingxing arrived in Washington in 1972 as a symbolic offering of friendship between the US and China, sparking panda fever around the world. As history has shown, the era of comity did not last, although the bears’ popularity has.

04 Mar, 2022
Illustration by Henry Wong