On the evening of February 21, 1976, Nixon took an Boeing 707 aircraft to Capital International Airport . That night, he stayed at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, where only important foreign guests could live.
This is Nixon's second visit to China. It has been 4 years since he first came to China. At that time, he was no longer the president of the United States. Although he became a civilian, he was still treated with the highest standards of China.
The next afternoon, Chairman Mao met Nixon in his study. This is the second and last meeting between the two. Chairman Mao, who was not the president, had a great conversation with Nixon.
Chairman Mao and Nixon exchanged a lot, including philosophy and political issues. When it was rising, Nixon asked Chairman Mao a question, and Chairman Mao’s answer was only briefly five words.
However, these five words made Nixon feel awe after hearing this, and even bowed deeply to Chairman Mao. So, what's going on? All this starts with Nixon's first visit to China.
1. Nixon's first visit to China
In the 1960s and 1970s, China's relations with the Soviet Union continued to deteriorate, especially since the outbreak of the "Zhenbao Island Incident" in 1969, the Soviet Union has deployed millions of troops on China's northeastern border and may be able to move south at any time, and Sino-Soviet relations have dropped to freezing point.
The deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations is a huge threat and pressure to China. For the United States, which is watching on the side, it is taking the opportunity to win over China and further curb the Soviet Union's opportunity.
At that time, Sino-US relations were actually very poor. From the US military's Seventh Fleet crossing Taiwan to prevent cross-strait reunification, to the Korean War Volunteers resisted the U.S. aided Korea, the two sides formed a bloody feud and had always been mortal enemies.
However, international relations are guided by national interests after all, "the enemy of the enemy is a friend." In 1969, after Nixon took office as US President, he deliberately released his sincerity, relaxed restrictions on China in terms of immigration, trade, etc., and actively offered an olive branch.
Of course, China also hopes to use the power of the United States to implement a balance of power diplomacy to break through the threat of the Soviet Union. Therefore, in the face of the sincerity of the United States, China also expressed the signal to the outside world that it hopes to talk to it.
In 1971, China invited the American table tennis team to visit China, and the players from both sides of the ocean "turned into big balls", which initially kicked off the icebreaking of Sino-US relations.
Since then, US Secretary of State Kissinger visited China four times and held talks with Premier Zhou, which has led to a major event in the history of Sino-US diplomacy - US President Nixon's visit to China, and there were two meetings between Nixon and Chairman Mao.
Nixon attached great importance to visiting China and made a lot of preparations for this. After finalizing the visit to China, Nixon heard that Italian film master Antonio made a documentary "China" that is very influential in the world.
So Nixon quickly found this film to watch repeatedly, with the focus on understanding Chairman Mao’s leadership style and how much prestige he has among the people.
Nixon also learned that former French Culture Minister Malroe had met Chairman Mao. A few days before his visit, he specially invited Malroe to White House and asked him what kind of person Chairman Mao was and what kind of personality characteristics he had.
Marro guessed that Nixon asked him these questions, perhaps because he planned to visit China, so he enthusiastically described the scene of his meeting with Chairman Mao to Nixon. Finally, Malro told Nixon meaningfully: "You will face a giant."
At 9 a.m. on February 21, 1972, Nixon visited China for the first time. He flew to Shanghai on the US " Air Force 1 " presidential plane, and then transferred to Beijing accompanied by Qiao Guanhua.
After arriving in Beijing, Nixon held a friendly meeting with Premier Zhou. At about 2 p.m. that day, Premier Zhou told Nixon that Chairman Mao wanted to see him.
At that time, Chairman Mao was nearly 80 years old and was in poor health. On January 13, 1972, he had a sudden high fever and severe hypoxia and was shocked. He woke up after emergency treatment from the doctor. By February 21, 1972, his condition had not fully recovered.
Although Nixon expressed his thoughts to Premier Zhou several times that he hoped to see Chairman Mao, he was also worried that Chairman Mao would not see him due to physical reasons. So now he heard that he could meet with him, Nixon was both nervous and happy.
About half an hour later, in the study of Chairman Mao in Zhongnanhai , Nixon met this world-famous "Oriental Giant". Nixon later described the scene of the first meeting in his memoirs:
His (Chairman Mao)'s physical weakness is very obvious, but he can still give a sharp look in his eyes.
In fact, Nixon was a little dissatisfied at the beginning of the first meeting in the study. He felt that no matter what he said, he was the president of the United States. Even if Chairman Mao was ill, he should see him in the living room.
So Nixon complained to Kissinger, and Kissinger replied:
Mr. President, if you think the reception specifications of China are low, I can make suggestions to the Chinese Concierge Division on your behalf.
Then Kissinger looked at Nixon and continued:
But I suggest you better not to do this, because Chairman Mao is a very simple person. If you are careful enough, you may find that there are actually several patches of different sizes on his pants. He has been wearing his navy blue pants for 5 years. And I only recently learned about these things.
Nixon was shocked after hearing Kissinger's words. As the president of the United States, he found it difficult to understand why a dignified leader can be so frugal. At the same time, a sense of awe arose in his heart.
During the specific meeting, Chairman Mao’s conversation was humorous and witty. Although he was even a little difficult to speak due to his physical reasons, his thinking was clear and he looked at the problem to the point.
When mentioning the issue of Sino-US relations, Chairman Mao said:
China and the United States, there is no problem of war between our two countries now. If you want to withdraw some of your troops and return to your country, but if our troops don’t go abroad, we will have some talks. If you can’t get a single agreement, it’s just that you’ve taken the wrong path. At worst, you can just talk twice.
Nixon praised Chairman Mao for being very famous in the world. His works are profound and have many readers. Chairman Mao smiled and joked: "
About me, people like me, fired empty guns, nothing more than the people of the world united, defeated the emperor, cultivated, and rebelled, and built socialism...
The two met for nearly an hour, and when they were about to end, both sides stood up. Nick Nick Song smiled and was obviously excited. He held Chairman Mao's hand tightly and said affectionately:
I have a feeling that we can change the world together!
The moment he spoke, it indicates that one era ended and another era began. On the evening of February 27, 1972, Nixon took a special plane back to China in Shanghai, ending his seven-day trip to China.
The day after Nixon returned to China, the United States published the " Sino-US Joint Communiqué ", announcing to the world that the United States recognized the one-China principle and would withdraw the US troops stationed in Taiwan soon.
Nixon achieved the historic normalization of Sino-US relations, but he himself was impeached by Congress for the eavesdropping scandal of " Watergate Incident ". He had no choice but to resign from the presidential position.
The newly appointed US president is Ford . After taking office, he issued a statement saying that he would inherit Nixon's friendly policy toward China and abide by the one-China principle. However, in terms of specific actions, he was always unwilling to withdraw US troops from Taiwan and frequently showed goodwill to the Soviet Union.
In 1975, Ford also visited China, but while the Chinese government welcomed it, it also showed a little coldness, which was far less enthusiastic than when Nixon visited China.
So, Chairman Mao hopes to see Nixon again. However, for various reasons, Nixon was not able to come to China again until February 1976.
2. Nixon visited China for the second time
When he visited China for the second time, since Nixon was no longer the president of the United States, he could not use the government's special plane for free. After China learned about it, it specially sent a newly purchased Boeing 707 aircraft to greet him.
This plane is the same model as the presidential plane that Nixon took when he first visited China four years ago. Nixon was very happy with this arrangement.
1976 at 10 pm on February 21, 1976, a special plane with Nixon flew to Beijing. China has not lowered Nixon's reception specifications because he is no longer the president. Everything is exactly the same as the arrangements four years ago.
Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua personally welcomed Nixon at the airport, and where Nixon stayed, it was still the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse , where only important foreign guests could live. The next day, Chairman Mao met Nixon for the second time, and was still in the plainly decorated study room.
4 years passed, and the two met again. Nixon became a civilian from president and became infamous in the United States. Chairman Mao was also in the twilight moment, and his physical health was worse than before.
Nixon later recorded the scene of this meeting in his memoir:
He (Chairman Mao) was still quick in his thinking, but a serious stroke caused him to lose the ability to turn his thoughts into language. This charismatic Communist leader once used his revolutionary ideas to promote a country and change the world, but now it is very difficult to even get a glass of water...
Finally, Nixon sighed with emotion:
No matter how others view him, no one can deny that he has fought to the last breath...
During the talks, despite some obstacles, the two still talked and laughed as much as possible. They talked a lot, including philosophy and realistic political topics... When was on the rise, Nixon suddenly asked Chairman Mao a question: "Do you have any specialties?"
Chairman Mao was stunned for a moment, and then replied with a smile: "Serve the people! This is my specialty!" Nixon had a solemn face after hearing this, and a sense of respect arose in his heart. The meeting between the two took a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes.
At the end of the talks, the secretary helped Chairman Mao up from the chair and helped him accompany Nixon to the door. A reporter carried a camera and headlights to record the last scene of the two shaking hands.
Chairman Mao pushed away the assistant, insisted on standing up, and said goodbye to Nixon and others tremblingly. Nick tightly held Chairman Mao's haggard hand and bowed deeply to him to show his respect.
Conclusion
This meeting in 1976 was the last meeting between Nixon and Chairman Mao. Less than 7 months have passed since then. In the early morning of on September 9, 1976, Chairman Mao passed away in Beijing due to serious illness and failed treatment for many prescriptions.
On September 13, 1976, Nixon issued a statement on this matter: "Chairman Mao Zedong passed away at the age of 82, ending his lifelong Long March . He is a man with extraordinary courage and firm thought, fighting until the last few days of his life..."
