| ID | 169504 |
| Title Proper | (Mis)perceptions of Domestic Politics in the U.S.-China Rapprochement, 1969–1978 |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Millwood, Pete |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | In 1971, the governments of the United States (U.S.) and China resumed a high-level diplomatic dialogue after two decades of nearly hermetic isolation and simmering conflict that had followed the foundation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. More than seven turbulent years later, the two governments “normalized” their relationship and formally resumed official diplomatic relations, having resolved or indefinitely shelved their most fundamental points of conflict. A number of Chinese, U.S., and international scholars have argued that the varying condition of U.S. and particularly Chinese domestic politics was a critical determinant of the sea change in the relationship in this period. The Cultural Revolution dashed tentative U.S. hopes of re-establishing contact in the late 1960s before the winding down of that movement in the early 1970s paved the way for a beginning to rapprochement; the Watergate crisis helped delay normalization beyond President Richard Nixon’s time in office and until the rise of Deng Xiaoping in 1978, whose domestic agenda of rapid modernization expedited a final bilateral agreement. |
| `In' analytical Note | Diplomatic History Vol. 43, No.5; Nov 2019: p.890–915 |
| Journal Source | Diplomatic History Vol: 43 No 5 |
| Key Words | Domestic Politics ; U.S.-China Rapprochement ; 1969–1978 |