Key Figures and Events Shaping China-US Relations

Will Rogers: The American entertainer who traveled the Far East in 1931 had a unique perspective. He particularly liked Shanghai.

Jan Myrdal: In 1982, Myrdal revisited the Chinese village he reported on in 1962. His observations in Return to a Chinese Village expressed disappointment at the changes and continued support for Mao's program, including the Cultural Revolution.

Fulbright Hearings: U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearings on Vietnam conducted between 1966 and 1971.

Simon Leys: Argued that the Cultural Revolution was not cultural or revolutionary, but an irrational, cruel power struggle replicating old despotism.

Little Red Book: A collection of statements from speeches and writings by Mao Zedong, published from 1964 to about 1976 and widely distributed during the Cultural Revolution.

George H.W. Bush: A one-term president who played a pivotal role in Washington's foreign policy towards Beijing for decades and remains a well-known American name in China.

Chinese Student Protection Act: Established permanent residence for Chinese nationals who came to the United States from June 5, 1989, to April 11, 1990, primarily targeting students.

James Mann: Published The China Fantasy, arguing that Western elites misrepresented the benefits of engagement with China and that prosperity and capitalism might not bring the PRC closer to Western liberal order.

Felix Greene: One of the first Western reporters to visit North Vietnam, traveling there for the San Francisco Chronicle in the 1960s.

Radford Reader: Stated that if Communist China were allowed to enter the United Nations, it would mean the effective end of that organization.

Richard Nixon: Elected president in 1968, he lifted the ban on travel to China, removed limits on purchases in China, and allowed foreign subsidiaries of American companies to invest.

Black Panthers: Their core practice was armed citizens' patrols to monitor the behavior of officers of the Oakland Police Department.

La Chinoise: A 1967 French political film directed by Jean-Luc Godard about young revolutionaries in Paris.

Joan Hinton: A former nuclear scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project. She lived in China after 1949 and stated that Mao started the Cultural Revolution to cure the disparity between the few and the many.

Shirley MacLaine: An actress and political activist who made a documentary on life in China, which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Deng Xiaoping: Paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 until his retirement in 1992. He led China through far-reaching market-economy reforms.

William Worthy: The first American reporter to visit and broadcast from China since the country's communist revolution in 1949.

One Belt One Road: A global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development and investment in 152 countries and international organizations.