US President Richard Nixon’s visit to the People’s Republic of China in February 1972 proved to be an unexpected success. It was a historic occasion for many reasons. It was the first time a US president had visited China since the Communist government under Mao Tse Tung had taken over. It marked a significant thawing in hostility between the two nations and offered the Americans a chance to exploit the enmity between the USSR and China and the Chinese an opportunity to end their international isolation. Nixon spent a week in China. Between 21 and 28 February 1972 he visited Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai. He travelled to China with his wife, Pat Nixon, and the national security advisor, Henry Kissinger.
South China Morning Post journalist Jonathan Fenby:
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