Nixon,Kissinger and China

[Synthesis-]

On february 21 1972, President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger traveled in "secret" to the PRC to open up relations that had been cold for 25 years. In the early 1970's you see the rise of a militant labor force somewhat in the usa who were reacting to savage attacks on them, you see milton friedman show up on the world stage signifying the end of keynes and the beginning so to speak of "neoliberalism", the intensification of coups in south america, the offshoring of jobs in mass etc.

My question is, do you think this was a plot by Kissinger and Nixon to overthrow Mao and begin the ascension of Deng Xiaoping? It's no secret then that alot was going in within China, various factions competing for power, the cultural revolution was still ongoing. Its hard to not think that Nixon and Kissinger didn't play some role in the end of the "Maoist" era in the PRC. Consider this Deng Xiaoping was purged from the party for being a "capitalist roader" and then he came to power in 1978 and had power until 1992.

My theory is this, Profit was drying up in the west, here comes Nixon and Kissinger trying to get access on behalf of western capital to a 1 billion labor market, thus seeing the fusion between "western" and "eastern" capital.

I know this thread sounds very conspiratorial and could take shape as a tendency war thread. I dont have much evidence for my theory other than Nixon and Kissinger actually visiting in 1972 and china afterwards becoming a hard core capitalist country. Please share your thoughts or if you know some links post them.

[CatsAttack]

On february 21 1972, President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger traveled in "secret" to the PRC to open up relations that had been cold for 25 years. In the early 1970's you see the rise of a militant labor force somewhat in the usa who were reacting to savage attacks on them, you see milton friedman show up on the world stage signifying the end of keynes and the beginning so to speak of "neoliberalism", the intensification of coups in south america, the offshoring of jobs in mass etc.

My question is, do you think this was a plot by Kissinger and Nixon to overthrow Mao and begin the ascension of Deng Xiaoping? It's no secret then that alot was going in within China, various factions competing for power, the cultural revolution was still ongoing. Its hard to not think that Nixon and Kissinger didn't play some role in the end of the "Maoist" era in the PRC. Consider this Deng Xiaoping was purged from the party for being a "capitalist roader" and then he came to power in 1978 and had power until 1992.

My theory is this, Profit was drying up in the west, here comes Nixon and Kissinger trying to get access on behalf of western capital to a 1 billion labor market, thus seeing the fusion between "western" and "eastern" capital.

I know this thread sounds very conspiratorial and could take shape as a tendency war thread. I dont have much evidence for my theory other than Nixon and Kissinger actually visiting in 1972 and china afterwards becoming a hard core capitalist country. Please share your thoughts or if you know some links post them.

Do you think the Tehran Conference was just a plot for Churchill to slip Stalin some slow-acting poison to murder him? I don't have much evidence for my theory other than the Tehran Conference taking place and Stalin dying 10 years later.

[Brutus]

Stalin obviously poisoned Roosevelt at Yalta. He is holding something in his hands, looks suspicious, and Roosevelt's back is turned...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/Yalta_summit_1945_with_Churchill%2C_Roosevelt%2C_S talin.jpg/297px-Yalta_summit_1945_with_Churchill%2C_Roosevelt%2C_S talin.jpg

[Synthesis-]

lol trash this thread im really bad at this internet thread thing

[blake 3:17]

Too late. Not gonna do it or advocate for it.

I'd really recommend Margaret MacMillan's Nixon in China. Fascinating. The meetings between two Americans who were pretty pampered and two Chinese guerrilla political fighters is amazing.

Mao was pretty out of it when they met, but Chou En Lai was very with it.

I don't think it was so much a function of capital (in itself) but simple geo-politics. The Chinese had broken with the Russians, and the only way to form an anti-Soviet bloc would be via a right wing American leadership.

[Sixiang]

On february 21 1972, President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger traveled in "secret" to the PRC to open up relations that had been cold for 25 years. In the early 1970's you see the rise of a militant labor force somewhat in the usa who were reacting to savage attacks on them, you see milton friedman show up on the world stage signifying the end of keynes and the beginning so to speak of "neoliberalism", the intensification of coups in south america, the offshoring of jobs in mass etc.

It wasn't a secret. Nixon's February 1972 visit was highly publicized by the U.S. and PRC media as it happened. What was secret was a preliminary Summer 1971 trip to China by Kissinger to set up the arrangements for Nixon's trip. In a few months, Nixon announced publicly his plans to go to China at Zhou Enlai's request. I don't know about those other things, but I don't see much of a connection.


My question is, do you think this was a plot by Kissinger and Nixon to overthrow Mao and begin the ascension of Deng Xiaoping? It's no secret then that alot was going in within China, various factions competing for power, the cultural revolution was still ongoing. Its hard to not think that Nixon and Kissinger didn't play some role in the end of the "Maoist" era in the PRC. Consider this Deng Xiaoping was purged from the party for being a "capitalist roader" and then he came to power in 1978 and had power until 1992.

My theory is this, Profit was drying up in the west, here comes Nixon and Kissinger trying to get access on behalf of western capital to a 1 billion labor market, thus seeing the fusion between "western" and "eastern" capital.

I know this thread sounds very conspiratorial and could take shape as a tendency war thread. I dont have much evidence for my theory other than Nixon and Kissinger actually visiting in 1972 and china afterwards becoming a hard core capitalist country. Please share your thoughts or if you know some links post them.
I do think this theory is conspiratorial.

[Karlorax]

Mao shifted rightward domestically and in foreign policy after the Ninth Congress of April 1969. Once Lin Biao was out of the way, Mao began rehabilitating many of the old enemies of the Cultural Revolution, the "Adverse Current." Mao also began pushing for peaceful coexistence with the USA, something he had earlier criticized Khruschev for doing. I like the explanations given here: http://llco.org/a-quick-look-at-some-of-maos-errors/

[Blake's Baby]

It's got little to do with the internals of faction fighting in the CPC. You might as well claim it had to do with factionalising in the GOP. Was Nixon planning to turn the US into a 'communist state'? Maybe that's why the US establishment had to fabricate the Watergate Tapes to force him out? I have no evidence other than that Nixon went to China then was forced from office...

What I think really happened was that Nixon and Kissenger hatched a deal with the Chinese. The US would cease operations in Vietnam; in return, China would take a 'pro-US' line against the USSR (or from the other perspective, China would take a pro-US line against the USSR, and in return the US would cease operations in Vietnam).

[blake 3:17]

@Blake's Baby -- You're basically right. If you can, do read Nixon in China. It goes through quite a bit of what you're saying, but with a lot more of the twists and turns that are required of real world politicians. I found some of the time lines weird. Nixon was committed to bombing Vietnam for x amount of time longer, knowing the US was defeated but couldn't admit it, and it was agreed upon. Very ruthless.

And it's very funny in parts. The Chinese had a small orchestra playing Turkey in the Straw for Nixon and Kissinger when their plane arrived! What hospitality!

And they all respected each other -- they were all serious. None of them were wishy washy.