“China did not go looking for them,” he told Mao. We should celebrate.”What mattered to Mao was that Nixon recognized that China was indispensable in the Cold War against the Soviets. Washington now had a much better relationship with the Soviets and the Chinese than the Soviets and the Chinese had with each other. Both looked to the United States for help, giving Nixon considerable leverage. The United States was in an auspicious position, especially after the border war of 1969 showed just how much Beijing and Moscow feared each other.

Source: New York Times March 02, 2019 15:56 UTC