On January 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden exchanged greetings on the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. On this day in 1979, after years of attempts at formal relations, a normalization agreement was signed.
In his message, Xi said the agreement was a “significant event in the history of bilateral and international relations.”
Efforts by each country were seen in reaching the agreement. late diplomat henry kissinger US President Richard Nixon and the US are reaching out to Pakistan and Romania to send a message. Although Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and President Mao Zedong were also involved, the process was completed under Chinese President Deng Xiaoping and US President Jimmy Carter. Here’s how:
First, why was it necessary to “normalize” U.S.-China relations?
After experiencing the rise and fall of various dynasties in modern Chinese history, it was attacked and occupied by Japan in the early 20th century. Japan was defeated in World War II in her 1945. However, China then began a civil war in which her two political groups, the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang (KMT), competed for leadership.
In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party led by Mao Zedong won, and the Kuomintang Party led by Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan. Thus, the People’s Republic of China was established on the mainland, and the Republic of China was confined to the island of Taiwan. Both claimed to be the “real” Chinese.
During this period, the capitalist United States and the socialist Soviet Union were engaged in a Cold War, with both superpowers asserting ideological and economic superiority. Russia supported the People’s Republic of China, while the United States pledged support to Taiwan. This was in line with the United States’ “containment” strategy (or Truman Doctrine, given by President Harry S. Truman), which aimed to limit the spread of communism.
How did the US and China attempt to establish formal relations?
As the decades passed, the arrangement changed. After China and the Soviet Union, allies since the early 1960s, split, the United States believed that China could become an ally against the Soviet Union. China was also willing to look for new partners.
“Chinese Communists: Short range, no change. Long range—we don’t want 800 million people to live angry and isolated. We’d like to hear from you… [want] “China is a cooperative member of the international community and a member of the Pacific Community,” Nixon wrote in a memo during his first two days in office in 1969.
He asked National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger to try to reach out to China. In 1969, an American diplomat reported that “the Pakistanis operate under the belief that President Nixon said to President Yahya: [Pakistan’s President Yahya Khan] He said the United States seeks reconciliation with communist China and is grateful to Pakistan for conveying this message. [Chinese Premier] We are using Zhou Enlai and his influence to promote this. ”
The United States also reached out to the communist countries of Romania and Poland. Chou Enlai told the Romanians that the key issue with the United States was the American “occupation of Taiwan” and invited them to discuss it in Beijing.
Taiwan, bone of conflict
This culminated in Kissinger secretly visiting China in 1971 during an official visit to Pakistan. The following year, Nixon made an official visit, becoming the first US president to do so. The visit will also lead to the establishment of liaison offices in Beijing and Washington that will serve as unofficial diplomatic hubs.
The 1972 Shanghai Communiqué was signed to acknowledge the desire for closer relations. He also mentioned Taiwan, saying, “China is one, and the U.S. government recognizes China’s position that Taiwan is part of China.”
Still, normalization did not materialize until 1979. One of the reasons for the delay was the change in political leadership on both sides. President Nixon resigned in 1974 following the Watergate scandal (which broke out in 1972).
President Nixon’s successor, Gerald Ford, also visited China in 1975, when Mao Zedong was quite ill. He died the following year, and the loss of great authority caused chaos in China. He will succeed Deng Xiaoping, who was previously purged by Mao Zedong for his positive views on economic liberalization and opening up (he is seen as anti-communist).
The need for normalization wins
Deng Xiaoping is known for leading a series of groundbreaking economic reforms in China in 1978. His outlook differed from that of leaders like Mao Zedong, who wanted to maintain the status quo. In his lecture, he said, “Until now, we have not absorbed advanced knowledge from foreign countries. Developed countries value scientific results…Advanced results of scientific research are the results of human labor. Why not absorb them? What’s so embarrassing about absorbing them?”
The book “Normalizing U.S.-China Relations: An International History” (2005) states that the United States viewed closer ties with China as a form of damage control for its defeat in the Vietnam War in 1975. But with China on its side, it would be seen as winning the war against its main communist enemy,” the magazine said.
At this point, the book says, China’s interest in promoting development through foreign trade and investment became coupled with national security interests. Deng Xiaoping once said, “If President Carter wishes to visit China, we would warmly welcome him.However, it is not mutually beneficial, and Chinese leaders will not go to Washington because of the Kuomintang’s “embassy.”” means.”
Meanwhile, Deng also discussed his grievances with the United States with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Regarding Taiwan, the “Japanese method” was mentioned. In other words, Japan’s decision to establish diplomatic relations with China while maintaining only non-governmental and unofficial exchanges with Taiwan.
Jimmy Carter later recalled: “The biggest challenge we faced throughout the negotiations was undoubtedly Taiwan. We recognized that the relationship with Taiwan is an internal issue for the People’s Republic of China. We have developed a close and friendly relationship, and it was important that we continue this through non-governmental means.”
With the normalization of diplomatic relations, the U.S. Embassy in Taipei, Taiwan, was moved to Beijing. Deng Xiaoping also became the first Chinese president to visit the United States.
However, that same year, the U.S. Congress approved the Taiwan Relations Act, which allowed informal U.S.-Taiwan relations and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. “The United States shall provide Taiwan with defensive weapons and maintain the United States’ ability to resist force or other forms of coercion that endanger the security of its people or its social and economic system.” ing. Taiwan’s. ”
“Ultimately, by focusing on interests rather than ideology, China and the United States succeeded in ending a three-decade diplomatic rift. Mutual accommodations brought mutual security… despite obstacles and frequent “Despite differences of opinion, strong leadership on both sides led to success,” the book says.