The visit of US President Richard Nixon to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1972 was a significant strategic and diplomatic milestone in the Nixon administration's restart of cordial ties between the US and mainland China after years of diplomatic isolation. Nixon's presence in Beijing ended 25 years of no contact or diplomatic ties between the two countries and was a significant step in normalizing relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. Nixon went to China to acquire more clout in his negotiations with the Soviet Union. Normalization of relations reached a pinnacle in 1979, when the United States established full diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.
When the Communist Party of China took control in mainland China in 1949 and the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan, the United States sided with the Republic of China and recognized it as China's sole government. Former Vice President Richard Nixon hinted to a new partnership with the PRC before his election as president in 1968. Nixon, through his National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, extended subtle overtures to the PRC government early in his first term, implying better relations. Kissinger traveled on secret diplomatic missions to Beijing in 1971 after a succession of these overtures by both governments, where he met with Premier Zhou Enlai. The President stunned the world when he announced on live television on July 15, 1971, that he would visit the PRC the following year.
Nixon labeled his visit "the week that changed the world," a phrase that has stuck in the political language ever since. While the Nixon visit resulted in a substantial shift in the Cold War balance—driving a wedge between the Soviet Union and China, resulting in significant Soviet concessions to the US—the trip also fostered China's openness to the rest of the world and economic parity with capitalist countries.
