(SOUND) Fall of Saigon: Automatic weapons fire
April thirtieth, nineteen seventy-five, marked the fall of Saigon, the South Vietnamese capital, after the withdrawal of American troops. The North Vietnamese had planned a two-year campaign to take Saigon; it would take them just fifty-five days.
(MUSIC Transition)
Another foreign policy issue for the Nixon administration was China. Here was Nixon's chance to shine as a statesman.
Communists took power in China in nineteen forty-nine. The United States, however, did not recognize the Communist Party government on the mainland. Instead, it recognized the Nationalist Chinese government in Taiwan.
In the early nineteen seventies, the Nixon administration began trying to improve relations. It eased restrictions on travel to China. And it supported a visit to China by the United States table-tennis team -- so-called "ping-pong diplomacy."
Then President Nixon made a surprise announcement. He himself would visit China.
(MUSIC)
The historic event took place in February nineteen seventy-two. Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai and Party Chairman Mao Zedong greeted the American president. Nixon and Zhou held talks that opened new possibilities for trade. The next year, Nixon sent a representative to open a diplomatic office in Beijing. After more than twenty years, the two countries were communicating again.
They would not establish full relations, however, until nineteen seventy-nine, when the United States stopped recognizing Taiwan.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25