Historic visit set stage for stable footing of Sino-US ties

US President Richard Nixon's trip to China in February 1972 was nothing short of a diplomatic breakthrough in global relations. At the time of a bipolar world during the Cold War, the visit effectively reached across the aisle and forged a new bridge in a world divided by ideologies.

The visit that took place on a cold, overcast winter's day brought a warm friendship between two great nations.

The eventful meeting took place in Chinese leader Mao Zedong's residence, which was filled with books and documents. The normalization of contemporary Sino-US ties was born, and it shook the world. Nixon himself called the meeting the "week that changed the world".

Nixon's handshake with Premier Zhou Enlai, which Nixon characterized as one that "stretches out across the Pacific Ocean in friendship", was one of these iconic moments captured on film.

Many saw the Sino-US rapprochement as contributing to eventually ending the Cold War, leading to globalization.

But geopolitical implications may not be as important as pragmatic ones. Most important, it opened the path for the peoples of China and the US to meet and interact.

Some of the most brilliant minds from the two countries exchanged innovative ideas, some of the world's best athletes from both countries played sports, starting with "ping-pong diplomacy", and many ordinary people on both sides were exposed to the rich cultures that both countries had to offer, even as they began to influence each other.

It opened the eyes of the peoples in both countries to look beyond the ideological and security lens, look past their ideas of exceptionalism and see each other as fellow human beings with similar economic needs, aspirations for progress and optimism for the future.

The idea of opening up the Chinese market was a powerful economic motivator for the two countries to make contact with each other. US exports to China would eventually make many US companies and entrepreneurs prosper. US support also saw the entry of China into the world economy, global financial institutions and international organizations.

Nixon's visit and the successive bilateral ties that followed also facilitated Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms.

In many ways, despite the cyclical geopolitical and political swings in ties (something natural in the bilateral relations of any two great powers), the economic institutions of both countries continue their pragmatic dealings in an intertwined world that prefers stable relations between the two economic powers rather than disruptions to the global trading regime. Even when adjustments have to be made, those adjustments should be negotiated carefully.

Statecraft is ultimately about managing both friendship and rivalry. Managing differences in the security and economic realms between two great powers is a necessity.

Generations of Chinese and US leaders have worked hard to put the bilateral relations on a stable footing. The elites in both countries have had brilliant political figures who, in the past, have found pragmatic ways to accommodate their countries' needs in the international community. That adjustment is constant and ongoing.

Despite challenges, generations of US presidents found ways to reach out to the Chinese people. Jimmy Carter's welcome for Deng, Ronald Reagan's visit to the Great Wall, George H.W. Bush's strong understanding of China, Bill Clinton's landmark visit to Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, George W. Bush's attendance at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Barack Obama's visit to Beijing, Donald Trump's welcome at Mara-Lago, and Joe Biden's Lunar New Year greetings－these were all symbolic outreaches from US political leaders to the representative of the Chinese people.

In the same way, Chinese leaders returned their symbolic gestures. Deng wearing a cowboy hat, Jiang Zemin's retreat at Houston, Hu Jintao's speech at Yale and Xi Jinping's reunion with old friends in Iowa were all human touches to state diplomacy.

Undoubtedly, China and the US will learn to work out their differences again as the world now faces common challenges. The resources and strengths of the Chinese and US economies are looked upon as the engines of growth to bring the world into a sustainable economic recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their resources are needed to bring an end to the pandemic as it transitions to an "endemic".

The world also needs China and the US to heal the planet and fight the effects of climate change. These are pragmatic issues that they can work on to mitigate inevitable rivalries between great powers.

The author is an adjunct senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute of National University of Singapore. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.