The phrase "Nixon goes to China", "Nixon to China", or "Nixon in China" is a historical reference to U.S. President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China, where he met with Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong. Its basic import is that Nixon's well-established reputation as an anti-Communist "hawk" gave him political cover against domestic criticism for a move that might have been portrayed as conciliating a geopolitical rival. The metaphor is often expressed as the observation "Only Nixon could go to China" or "It took Nixon to go to China".

Context

The phrase had originated before Nixon's actual visit to China. An early use of the phrase is found in a December 1971 U.S. News & World Report interview with US Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield in a section summary lead that read, "'Only a 'Nixon' Could Go to China." The actual quote from Mansfield, which he prefaces by noting he had heard it said earlier, was "Only a Republican, perhaps only a Nixon, could have made this break and gotten away with it." Nixon had developed an extensive record of opposing communism from his early days in the House of Representatives, including serving on the House Un-American Activities Committee, sponsoring the Mundt–Nixon Bill to require Communist Party members to register with the government, and personally spearheading the prosecution of alleged Soviet spy Alger Hiss. When he met President Nixon, Chairman Mao also joked that "I voted for you during your last election." Nixon laughed and said "you voted for the lesser of two evils," and Mao replied, "I like rightists, I am comparatively happy when these people on the right come into power."

Outcome

Nixon's visit to China and Shanghai Communiqué was of particular significance because it marked the beginning of a thaw in China–United States relations. Internationally, Nixon's visit played a role in leading to the September 1972 Japan–China Joint Communiqué between Mao Zedong and Kakuei Tanaka. During the negotiation, Mao also stated that he preferred the "rightist" party in Japan as well as the United States.

In politics, economics and history

The Nixon going to China phenomenon has also been compared to a more generic spectrum of left-wing and right-wing policies, and a proposed "Nixon paradox" describing which policies are difficult to implement based on a politician's declared values (left or right primarily). Two theoretical economic models suggest that these surprising policy initiatives can politically benefit the policy initiator. Assuming that politicians who are in power have superior information concerning the effects of policies, if new information is obtained supporting a right-wing shift in policy, a left-wing politician can more credibly signal that the policy is an appropriate course of action than a right-wing politician, because ‘‘voters will infer that the left-wing politician is motivated by objective facts, rather than his party’s natural ideological tendencies’’. This phenomenon was empirically supported in two experiments conducted in Germany and Israel. Politicians who adopt policies that are incongruent with their policy reputation enjoy a more favorable public reaction.

Similar historical events (pre-1972)

Similar political events (post-1972)

In popular culture

The expression was used in the 1991 film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in which "only Nixon could go to China" is quoted by Spock as "an old Vulcan proverb". In the context of the film, itself an allegory of thawing relations between the US and the former Soviet Union, it is given as a reason why James T. Kirk, a character with a history of armed conflict with the Klingons and a personal enmity for them after his son's death, should escort their chancellor to Earth for peace negotiations with the Federation.