To the end of the 1960s the U.S. considered all communist nations in league with Russia, but, increasingly, the situation was growing more complex. China, for instance, found they had more to fear from the fellow communist neighbor to the north. An unexpected opportunity for friendly overtures to the West came during the ping pong international championships, when a Chinese team helped an American competitor left behind to get to his hotel. Both countries seized the event to establish formal relations.

On this day, July 15, in 1972, Nixon addressed the nation in a stunning announcement that after a visit by Henry Kissinger to China, Nixon himself will travel to the country to meet with Chinese Premier Chou En-lai. Nixon was an ardent critic of China-diplomacy supporters as well as of communists in general; his acceptance of an invitation by a communist country raised more than a few eyebrows.

Nixon had many incentives to develop closer ties to China: the country was a strategic ally of North Vietnam, whom he hoped to persuade to a truce, preserving American honor in the face of a withdrawal. China’s proximity to Russia similarly made it a vital American ally in that region.