Great Rapprochement-a Study Of Nixon Administration’s Diplomatic Strategy Towards China (1969-1972)

After the Second World War, due to the differences in ideology and social system,the successive administrations of the United States regarded the People’s Republic ofChina (PRC) as a threat and enemy and adopted the policy of isolation andcontainment. In the1960s and1970s, great changes took place in the internationalenvironment and in the U.S. Forced by reality, Nixon had to make globally strategicadjustments in order to safeguard national interests, which prompted a series ofchanges in the U.S. foreign policy. Overcoming great difficulties, Nixon activelysought opportunity to befriend China and ease the China-U.S. relations, which brokethe ice of twenty years’ hostility and estrangement. The Nixon’s1972visit is a majorturning point in the history and lays a good foundation for friendly development ofChina-U.S. relations.This article is divided into three parts: introduction, main body and conclusion. Theintroduction part is about the current status of domestic and foreign research on theissue. Based on a large number of data and original diplomatic archives, the paper re-sorts and re-studies this issue, aiming to make a breakthrough. The main body isdivided into four chapters. In the first chapter, the paper introduces the causes forNixon’s strategic adjustments towards China in the following three terms: the changedenvironment, Nixon and Kissinger’s love of balance of power and the Sino-Sovietconflicts. The second chapter introduces the Nixon administration’s policy towardsTaiwan. Taiwan is a key question between China-U.S. relations. The United States’Taiwan policy has restricted its mainland policy and the mainland policy hasdominated Taiwan policy. The third chapter introduces, from six aspects, the strategicadjustments Nixon made, which create conditions for the two countries’ reconciliation.Chapter four introduces the far-reaching significance of Nixon’s strategic adjustmentsfor the two countries. The conclusion part appraises Nixon’s strategic adjustmentstowards China.