First Taiwan Strait Crisis
China–United States relations after the Second World War had been paternalistic and relatively friendly. However, relations fractured in 1949-1950 when the People's Republic of China was established on 1 October after peasant-backed Communists defeated the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek. The ideological tensions between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China were worsened by the Korean War and The First Taiwan Strait Crisis which saw America engage in battle against China and threaten nuclear attack. The Tibetan Uprising and China's first atomic test in 1964 would further strain Sino-American relations with the predominant American representation of China revolving around aggression, expansionism and extremism. It was only when underlying Sino-Soviet tensions escalated in to the Sino-Soviet border conflict in 1969, and subsequent nuclear threats from Moscow, did China look to the U.S. With a common enemy, the Soviet Union, China and the U.S. adjusted their policy toward each other and engaged in rapprochement in 1970. Under Nixon, Henry Kissinger normalised U.S. and Chinese relations by connecting with high ranking Chinese officials; opening the US up to China. Kissinger arranged a secret meeting in China in 1971 and Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China. The 1972 Summit between the U.S. and China opened communication, trade, and agreeance on certain principles of international conduct.