On February 27, 1972, the United States and China put together the joint U.S-China communiqué, the conclusion of Nixon and Kissinger’s astonishing weeklong visit to the People’s Republic. Kissinger had begun to outline the Shanghai Communiqué with Chou En-lai around July 14, 1971, when he met in Beijing with the Chinese prime minister to lay the groundwork for Nixon’s upcoming visit. Evidence of this meeting can be found in Kissenger’s memoranda “My Talks with Chou En-lai.” Kissinger continued to work out the particulars during the February 1972 summit, usually in late-night meetings with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua.
The communiqué stated that both the United States and China strive for “normalization” of relations, and to expand “people-to-people contacts” and trade opportunities. In a slight indication to the Soviet Union, the communiqué affirmed that neither nation “should seek hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region and each is opposed to efforts by any other country or group of countries to establish such hegemony.”
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