Vietnam, China, and the Coming Crisis

Abstract

Nixon's forthcoming visit to Peking has been widely interpreted by conservatives, liberals, and radicals alike as proof that Washington has at last decided to get out of Vietnam. The reasoning seems to be that Nixon wants to establish formal relations with China and to begin the reorientation of U.S. Asian policy away from the disastrous course of the whole period since the Second World War. China, on the other hand, has made it clear that nothing along this line can be achieved until the United States has recognized Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan and withdrawn its forces from Vietnam. Hence the conclusion that the end of the war in Vietnam is now at hand.

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