Fifty years on, ‘Nixon in China’ loses its sparkle in Beijing and Washington

The trip was hailed as a diplomatic breakthrough at the time but now critics in the US question its wisdom

On a brisk winter day in February 1972, the 34-year-old American diplomat, Winston Lord, arrived in Beijing with his boss, Henry Kissinger, and president Richard Nixon. Barely an hour after they checked in to their guest house, a message came: Chairman Mao wants to see president Nixon."

The urgency from Mao resonated with the excitement from the American delegation. The establishment of bilateral relations offered great opportunities for both sides in facing a common enemy: the Soviet Union. For more than two decades since the Chinese communists took over the mainland, Beijing and Washington had had no official contact on this scale.