[Pictured above: Ping Pong Diplomacy anniversary tour with members of the original Chinese and American teams]
Across the American continent, across the Pacific Ocean…and 24 hours of flights later I crossed off Great Wall of China from my “bucket list.” It was a flight well spent! The physics of standing on the Wall, leaning back into such a steep angle would be impossible on level ground. Yet here in China, the Wall defied all preconceptions. To my surprise, other preconceptions would likewise be challenged.
My younger son and I had taken a Ritz Tour that featured the big 3: Beijing, Xian and Shanghai. I marveled that the smallest classified as a “city” when it embodied the entire population of my home state of Wisconsin. Today Xian is pushing the population of Virginia, Beijing is essentially the size of Florida, and Shanghai is a mere 4 million short of Texas.
With that large a market, no wonder Nixon sought to “normalize” trade relations with China!
Ah, Nixon. Mention “Nixon” to an American and the dark clouds gather. The shame of a president caught in lies and a cover up so contaminating to American culture that any scandal assumes the suffix “gate.” From Watergate to Deflategate, Nixon scarred the American psyche.
But the Chinese view our 36th president quite differently. Several times – no, numerous times – Chinese tour guides esteemed the president brought low by dirty politics.
However, knowing that our guides hoped for a sizeable tip at the end of the tour, I wondered whether they spoke a studied truth, or merely prattled what they thought their clientele expected to hear. If that were the case, they really misunderstood the disparity in each culture’s view of Nixon.
It was an issue to pursue: Was Nixon the turning point in modern Chinese history?
In a word, yes.
When Nixon called the Chinese government by its own chosen name in February 1971, he not only opened the flow of markets, he opened the door for political and social change as well. Within a year, China swapped places with Taiwan on the UN Security Council. Although trade journalists and Wall Street debunked China’s early “quiet years,” the nation that in 1972 bore a population five times the size of America but with an economy less than one tenth by comparison, by 1980 earned the trade title of “Most Favored Nation.” Increased trade enabled American law makers to leverage for more dignity for the Chinese laborer.[1]
Admittedly, today not all is perfect. The country that once lagged behind has taken a strong global lead with its own share of controversy, as all world players are wont to do.
But in February 1972, Nixon did more than walk a wall of history, of humanity, of conquest and of culture. For the Chinese, he represented a new future for an entire nation.
[1] Wang, Dong (2010), China’s Trade Relations with the United States in Perspective, in: Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, 39, 3, 165-210. ISSN: 1868-4874 (online).
History Is My Travel Bag 