This book presents a panorama of the history of China-U.S. relations from 1949 to 1972 and covers a wide range of topics in this significant period: China-U.S. Confrontation in the Korean War, American Containment of China from the 1950s to 1970s, Two Crises in the Taiwan Strait, China-U.S. Ambassadorial Talks, China-U.S. Confrontation in Indochina, and Rapprochement, and Dr. Kissinger and President Nixon’s visit to China in 1971 and 1972. The transformation of U.S. policy toward China from containment to rapprochement indicated the attitudinal change of American decision-makers on China’s role in U.S. grand strategy and their perception of bilateral relations. China’s decision to seek reconciliation with the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s also embodied its policy adjustment towards the United States. In the toughest moments of the Cold War, it took great courage, wisdom and leadership to open a new chapter in bilateral relations. History is a mirror that illuminates the present and the future. At a critical China-U.S. relations today, this timely publication of Professor Tao Wenzhao may enlighten us as to steering this vital relationship toward a healthy course in the world of enormous challenges.
