Question

What was the purpose of Nixon's courting of China?

a. To make sure the Chinese continued their support of North Vietnam
b. To discourage the Chinese from supporting North Korea
c. To ally the Chinese with another American ally, the Japanese
d. To split the Chinese away from the Russians.

Answer 1

The right answer is d. To keep the Chinese and Russians from working together.

Nixon's efforts to get along with China, which came to a head with his historic trip to Beijing in 1972, were a big change in the way the United States dealt with other countries. Nixon's main goal in courting China was to make things better between the US and China and to drive a wedge between China and the USSR.

At the time, the Soviet Union was a major world power and the US's rival. Nixon thought that if the US got along better with China, it could change the balance of power in the world and maybe even break up the communist bloc by making China and the Soviet Union fight each other.

Nixon's trip to China was a major turning point in American foreign policy and an important part of the Cold War. It made it possible for the US and China to start talking to each other again, and it had a big effect on world politics for decades. Overall, Nixon's efforts to get along with China were meant to help the United States and change the balance of power in the world.