Kissinger’s secret visit to China begins

China detonated its first atomic device at Lop Nur, becoming the fifth state to test a nuclear weapon. The test was presented as a deterrent against nuclear coercion by the United States and Soviet...

A Communist Party circular initiated the Cultural Revolution, triggering mass political campaigns, persecution, upheaval in education and institutions, and struggles over authority. This period...

Chinese and Soviet forces fought on the Ussuri River island known in China as Zhenbao and in the Soviet Union as Damansky. The border confrontation exposed the fragility of socialist...

China launched Dong Fang Hong 1, becoming the fifth country to place a satellite in orbit. The achievement demonstrated technological capacity and national autonomy in a period of isolation and...

The PRC invited the US table tennis team to visit after informal contact at an international tournament. “Ping-pong diplomacy” helped prepare public opinion for rapprochement, showing how symbolic...

US President Richard Nixon announced that he would visit China, making public a dramatic opening after decades of estrangement. The rapprochement reflected triangular diplomacy with the Soviet Union...

The General Assembly voted to restore the People’s Republic of China’s rights at the United Nations and recognize its representatives as China’s representatives, replacing the Republic of China...

Nixon arrived in Beijing for a historic visit that culminated in the Shanghai Communiqué. The opening helped normalize relations and reconfigure Cold War diplomacy; it also showed how postcolonial and...

The United States and the PRC issued the Shanghai Communiqué at the close of Richard Nixon’s visit. It opened a path toward normalization while making Taiwan a central, unresolved issue; the...

China and Japan issued a joint communiqué establishing diplomatic relations. Japan acknowledged the PRC government as China’s sole legal government and stated its understanding of Beijing’s position...