1979: US and China establish diplomatic relations

DATE: January 1, 1979

DESCRIPTION: In 1970, a visit to China by the American ping pong team took place; during which an exchange of ping pong players between the two countries took place. This was known as ping-pong diplomacy, and marked the beginning of a thawing of US-China relations, and eventually led to President Nixon’s visit to Beijing, which officially started trade relations between the US and China. On December 16, the Chinese and US governments published the Joint Communique of the People’s Republic of China and the United States Concerning the Establishment of Their Diplomatic Relations, in which the US government accepted the principles raised by China to establish diplomatic relations: cutting off diplomatic relations with Taiwan and withdrawing its’ armed forces/military facilities from it, alongside annulling the treaties signed by the US and the Chang Kai Shek regime. Starting on January 1, 1979, China and the US officially reestablished diplomatic relations.

BLAME: The events leading to the establishment of diplomatic relations was caused by two ping pong players: Glen Cowan and Zhuang Zedong. The two had been practicing together and after Cowan ended up missing his team bus, a random Chinese player invited him to get on his. On the bus, Zedong came from the back to greet him and gave him a gift of a silk-screen picture. This gained wide attention and eventually led to Mao Zedong inviting the American team for a visit, which in turn led to the series of events that allowed the US and China to establish diplomatic relations.

TENSION INCREASE: Tensions increased from the USSR. China and the USSR were already not on very good terms during this time period ever since the Cultural Revolution, which strained and broke their political relations. In fact, some speculation has shown that Nixon’s visit in 1972, which was one of the reasons for the warming of relations between the two countries showed the scorn of both countries towards the USSR. +1.5

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