All language subtitles for Cold War - S01E15 - China (1949–1972) (480p x265 EDGE2020).eng

NARRATIONI
1966.

Mao Zedong,
God in his own nation,

scourge of the United States,

and a symbol of revolution
in the world.

[ Chanting ]

Six years later,

Mao embraced the enemy.

NARRATOR:
At the Summit, face to face,

two leaders who direct
the destiny

of one out of three persons
on the earth.

The gate to friendly contact,
says Zhou Enlai,

has finally been opened.

D ♪

p [ band plays 1 I“

NARRATION:
1949 -- revolution in China.

The People's Liberation Army
were welcomed

as heroes in Beijing.

Led by Mao Zedong,

the communists had triumphed

in a civil war
against the nationalists.

Soviet support
had been unreliable.

The Chinese felt
they'd managed it alone.

[woman speaking Chinese]

INTERPRETER: The Communist
Party seemed wonderful.

It was democratic,
it was egalitarian

it promised food
for everyone.

And so, of course,
the ideal of Communism

gradually entered
my spirit.

NARRATION: The Americans
were devastated to lose China,

their best friend
in Asia.

MAN:
Oh, we felt that they had betrayed

all of our high hopes

and our expectations
of them.

We had become emotionally
involved with them,

and then they had
done this to us --

they'd gone off
and become communists.

[speaking Chinese]

NARRATION:
On October 1 ,

Mao Zedong told the crowd
in Tiananmen Square

that a new China
was born.

The country was
in chaos,

exhausted after years
of war.

Mao needed
external help.

One of Mao's first acts was
to visit Moscow,

to get military protection
and economic aid.

He was met
at the station

by Foreign Minister Molotov
and most of the Politburo.

[speaking Chinese]

NARRATION:
Mao then went to the Kremlin

to meet Stalin.

[ Man speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
Mao shook Stalin's hand for a long time.

A very long time.

Stalin came out
to greet him quite slowly.

He knew how to play
the role of statesman.

Stalin was a wonderful actor

and he didn't rush
like Mao did.

[speaking Chinese]

He wasn't afraid of
Stalin.

He wasn't particularly
suspicious of him either.

The question was
could they find common ground?

Mao had his own
particular way of thinking,

Stalin had his way.

But Mao was in
no great hurry.

NARRATION:
Mao had to be patient.

He wanted to conclude
a Sino-Soviet friendship treaty

without making
too many concessions.

But Stalin,
as wary of Mao

as Mao was of him,

was in no hurry either.

Mao's visit dragged on
for two months.

He toured factories,

and was shown inspiring films
about Russian leaders

such Tsar Peter the Great.

[speaking Russian ]

[speaking Russian ]

Mao wanted
to see the sea.

He had never seen
a real sea.

And Stalin said,
of course, surely.

Outside Leningrad we have
the Gulf of Finland.

That's like a sea.

Here's a train for you
and a guide.

Go! Enjoy it!

NARRATION:
In February 1950,

the Chinese and the Soviets
signed a mutual defense treaty.

The treaty also guaranteed
aid for China.

MAN: At that time there
was the attitude everywhere

that Moscow
and the Chinese communists

were tightly linked,
hand in hand.

This was perceived by many
to be part

of a worldwide conspiracy

and hence was,
was somewhat frightening.

NARRATION:
But to Mao,

China always came first.

[speaking Chinese]

Mao said, "A treaty
can be signed

for 10, 20, or 50 years.

It doesn't matter.

But it must
not tie our hands.

NARRATION:
Mao gratefully accepted the help

of Soviet experts
in rebuilding Chinese industry.

[ Man speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
We had come from the Soviet Union,

where the basis
of the state economy

was the plan.

So we explained
to our Chinese comrades

that the plan was
the absolute basis

of everything.

The development of
the country,

the economy,

and not only the economy,

but of other branches
of knowledge.

NARRATION: China's rulers
embarked on radical land reforms.

Land was taken
from private owners

and handed
to the peasants.

The former landowners
were denounced

and humiliated.

[speaking Chinese]

[shouting applause]

NARRATION:
A million lost their lives.

In June 1950,
North Korea,

with Soviet
and Chinese backing,

attacked South Korea.

REPORTER:
The sudden attack by the North Koreans

dealt the slender forces
below the 38th Parallel

a mortal blow.

The prompt arrival
on the scene of US soldiers

gave Marshal Stalin
and his cold-eyed strategists

a rude shock.

[explosions]

NARRATION:
Forces under United Nations command

pushed the invaders back
to the Chinese border.

China feared an attack
on its own territory.

[Ge speaking Chinese]

The main enemy was America.

At that time
all the propaganda was

directed against America.

The proletariat
of the whole world

must unite to get rid
of the capitalists.

America was
a capitalist country

and so it had to be
got rid of.

NARRATION:
Under the banner,

"Help Korea,
Down with US Imperialism,"

more than one million
Chinese troops

would cross the border
into Korea.

[explosions]

The Korean War lasted
for three years

and cost more than
half a million Chinese lives.

[ Explosions, gunfire]

In China,
cinema audiences watched

films of bumper harvests

and new industrial records.

[ Narrator speaking
Chinese ]

[Arkhipov speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: There was a
song we used to sing at the time.

It was called
"Moscow-Peking."

People sang it
in Russia and in China.

It went,

"Russians and Chinese are
brothers forever."

Comrade Stalin stressed
to me,

"You, Arkhipov and your team
should always remember that."

NARRATION:
Steel production was a yardstick

of national virility.

The success of the first
three-year plan

was celebrated.

But although exhilarating,

Soviet aid
had to be paid for.

[speaking Chinese]

We Chinese
were very enthusiastic

towards the Soviets.

They were our older
brother, our best friend.

We expected them to give us
a very warm welcome.

The first time we went
to the Soviet Union,

they invited us
to a big banquet.

We ate very well.

It was really good food.

But what we hadn't
expected was that this

wasn't actually
free of charge.

They asked for more
than 9,000 rubles for it.

We were very shocked.

NARRATION:
Stalin's death in 1953

had a deep impact in China.

Despite Mao's misgivings,
he had respected

the Soviet leader's
iron authority.

After a power struggle
in the Kremlin,

Nikita Khrushchev emerged
as the new Soviet leader.

He and his Politburo
visited China

to maintain
the alliance.

The size and power
of the communist bloc

made the new
American administration

increasingly anxious.

We can see that China
is the basic cause

of all of our troubles
in Asia.

If China had not
gone communist,

we would not have had
a war in Korea.

If China were not communist,
there would be no war

in lndo-Oh in a.

There would be no war
in Malaya.

Today there are approximately
540 million people

who can be counted
on the side of the free nations.

There are 800 million
on the communist side.

And there are
600 million others

who must be counted as
non-committed.

NARRATION: America did everything
to stop the spread of Communism.

To prevent China
from attacking

the Chinese Nationalist
stronghold of Formosa

or Taiwan,

the United States financed
a military build-up

on the island.

NARRATOR:
Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek,

along with his
American advisers,

reviews free
Chinese Nationalist forces

in an Independence Day parade.

More than a half-million
soldiers, sailors,

airmen and marines

have as their ultimate aim
and living goal

the return
to China's mainland.

NARRATION: The Nationalist
government was determined

to defend two small islands
off the China coast,

Quemoy and Matsu.

MAN: From the point of
view of the United States,

these tiny little islands
close to the mainland

were of no significance as such.

On the other hand,

the Chinese Nationalists
looked on them as symbols

as to what the United States
would do in helping them.

Furthermore,
Chiang Kai Shek had put

an enormous proportion
of his army

on these little islands.

[ explosion ]

NARRATION:
In September 1954,

the communists shelled
the island of Quemoy.

Three months later,

Washington signed
a mutual defense treaty

with Taiwan.

NARRATOR:
Almost immediately, the major units

of the Seventh Fleet are
shifted to Formosa

to augment the United States
and Nationalist patrols

in the strait
and along the mainland.

The action upholds
the United States pledge

to meet the common danger,
communism.

NARRATION:
The American show of strength

failed to stop
the Chinese communist challenge.

The allied nations
possess together

plenty of power
in the area.

The United States
in particular

has sea and air forces
now equipped

with new and powerful
weapons of precision.

NARRATION:
All-out war came closer.

America made
nuclear threats.

Eisenhower never said he would
use nuclear weapons,

but he would --
essentially,

he and Dulles
essentially said,

"Nuclear weapons are
available

and would be part
of our arsenal,"

and essentially that implied

that if they were necessary
in order to prevail,

they would be used.

NARRATOR:
Regular target training

keeps every pilot
in combat readiness

at all times.

NARRATION:
Mao's provocation

and America's response
concerned Khrushchev,

whose nuclear bombs guaranteed
China's security.

Khrushchev told the Chinese
that war with imperialism

was no longer
inevitable.

At the 20th Soviet Party
Congress

in February
1956,

in a secret session
that was not filmed,

Khrushchev denounced Stalin
as a criminal.

Mao took it
as a threat

to his own
style of leadership.

[speaking Chinese]

Mao's attitude was
very clear.

He thought that
criticism of Stalin

was inappropriate.

Stalin was
an international statesman.

[speaking Russian ]

Mao Zedong said to him,

"Your decision isn't right.

Your speech isn't right."

Khrushchev begins
his arguments --

"But Stalin is a member
of the Communist Party

of the Soviet Union.

It's our right
to deal with him

as we see fit.

It is the personality cult
of Stalin.

That's why we've
taken our decision."

Mao Zedong,

"It is true that he is
a member of your party,

but he is also leader

of the world revolutionary
movement.

We are the followers
of Stalin.

How can you reduce
the role of Stalin

to being only a member
of the Soviet Communist Party

just like that?"

[gunfire]

NARRATION:
In October 1956,

the Hungarians rose up
against Soviet domination.

While Khrushchev hesitated,

Mao urged
a violent crackdown.

For the 40th anniversay

of the Soviet Revolution,

Mao went to Moscow.

He used the occasion
to put himself forward

as the new leader
of world revolution.

[speaking Chinese]

NARRATION:
But Soviet aid was undermining

Mao's aim
for total independence.

The crunch came
in 1958.

[speaking Chinese]

Khrushchev wanted to set
up a long wave radio station

along the Chinese coast

to guide Soviet
submarines.

He suggested setting up
a joint naval fleet.

This was a clear sign

that the Soviets wanted
to control China.

[speaking Chinese]

Mao's understanding was
that the Soviet Union was

trying to control China

in the same way
as it controlled countries

in Eastern Europe.

So he got angry
with Khrushchev and said,

"If you want it,

I'll give you the whole
coastline

and I'll go back
to the mountains."

NARRATION:
Mao still needed Soviet know-how.

He wanted to create

China's own
nuclear industry.

[Arkhipov speaking Russian ]

These Chinese comrades
then expressed a new wish.

They said they would
very much like

to receive more aid
from us

in order to build plants
and facilities

for the production
of the atomic bomb.

Such an agreement
was signed.

[speaking Chinese]

Mao said that the atomic
bomb was a paper tiger.

But he also knew

that whether a country
had the atomic bomb or not

had a huge bearing
on its position in the world

and on its international
influence.

NARRATIONI
In 1958,

Khrushchev visited China
to renew Soviet support.

But Mao's nuclear demands
had already strained relations

with the big brother.

[speaking Russian ]

Mao Zedong said,

"You are Communists
and we are Communists.

Communists usually share.

Will you give us
the atomic bomb or not?"

Khrushchev,

"And what do you want
the atomic bomb for?

We have the atomic bomb

and we will stand up
for China

just the same as we would
for the Soviet Union."

"Yes," Mao said,

"It's true.

But we are not just
some tinpot village.

China is a great country

and we want
to have it."

Khrushchev,

"You don't need it."
And so on.

Mao then says,

"So you don't
want to give it to us then?"

[speaking Russian ]

Despite the fact
that we tried

to slow down the help
with nuclear weapons to China,

we had already given them
the blueprints

and practically all
the assistance necessary

for making
the atomic bomb.

NARRATION:
When Khrushchev next visited Beijing,

he'd just been
President Eisenhower's guest

in the United States.

After a frigidly
polite reception,

Khrushchev was accused
of being ah American stooge.

Khrushchev protested that
this was ho way

to talk
to a communist leader.

[speaking Chinese]

Mao's foreign Minister,
Marshal Chen Yi

was screaming
at Khrushchev.

He said, "You're only
a political leader,

but I'm a marshal
and I'll say what I like."

This argument had
a huge impact

on Sino-Soviet relations.

From here on,
no common ground

could be found
on major issues.

After that,
they split up.

NARRATION: The struggler for
pre-eminence in the communist world

was now
out in the open.

[ Deluisin speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
Here were two despots,

each used to having
his own way.

They couldn't cooperate.

In the Communist camp,

the question was always

Who was number one?
Who was the tsar?

[ Mochulski speaking
Russian ]

On one occasion
during the 1959 trip

Khrushchev spoke
disrespectfully

about Mao Zedong.

He said that Mao was
an old boot

that ought to be
thrown out.

[speaking Russian ]

They had to translate
"old galosh"

and they translated it
as "old boot."

But in Chinese
it means both "old boot"

and "prostitute."

And when Kang Sheng
heard those words,

he took it
that the Great Leader

was being called
an "old whore."

NARRATION:
Soviet advisers would soon be

withdrawn
from China.

Rivalry between
the communist powers

was ideological
as well as personal.

[ Man speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: ideological
squabbles could get quite comical.

The Soviet side would say,
"We are the Marxists!"

And then the Chinese
would say,

"No, we are the Marxists!"

The Soviets would say,
"We are Red!"

And the Chinese
would say,

"We are even redder!"

It could appear funny

but the damage was
really serious.

The party started
issuing documents,

editorials,

attacking Soviet
Revisionism.

So from then on,

along with other slogans,

we had to shout
"Down with Soviet revisionism."

Later on,

it was
"Down with Khrushchev."

NARRATIONI
In 1958,

Mao had thought up
a new policy --

the Great Leap Forward --

the grandiose plan
to transform China

into a rich
world power.

Land was taken over
by the state.

The family unit
was to disappear.

People were organized
into huge communes.

A utopian world of plenty
would come

from sheer
force of will.

Mao's method was to be
a more extreme version

of Stalin's brutal
collectivization

of the 1930s.

[ Liu speaking Chinese]

INTERPRETER: The Great Leap
Forward was a kind of recklessness.

Mao wanted to change
the face of China

in the shortest
time possible.

The slogan was, "Struggle
hard for three years.

Change the face of China.

Catch up with Britain.
Catch up with America."

It was completely
unrealistic.

NARRATION:
Because steel remained

a key symbol
of national vitality,

the entire country reverted

to pre-industrial backyard
furnaces.

People worked day and night
to produce

massive amounts
of useless metal.

[speaking Russian ]

The largest city in China
is Shanghai.

Once I arrived there

at the height of
the Great Leap Forward.

I went up to the roof
of a tall house

and from there I could see
all of Shanghai

was in flames.

In every courtyard
they were smelting steel.

NARRATION:
Crops were left to rot.

Scientific knowledge
and all common sense

were ignored.

No one dared
to tell the truth

for fear of arrest
or worse.

[speaking Chinese]

The lies
of the Great Leap Forward

were absolutely
unbelievable.

Anybody who did not
speak in falsehoods

was demoted
or expelled from their jobs.

From the time
of the Great Leap Forward

all Chinese people learned
to tell lies.

NARRATION: The peasanfs
food was taken from them by force

to make up
bogus quotas.

It was one of the worst
man-made disasters in history.

[speaking Chinese]

We had to eat the husks
of coarse grain,

not even
the grain itself.

We ate leaves
off trees.

We all went down
with hepatitis.

Many peasants died
of starvation.

No one really knew
how many.

NARRATION:
Because of Mao's policy,

over 30 million people
starved to death.

Hiding the catastrophe,

Mao still posed as the leader
of world communism.

Blocked by Washington
from the United Nations,

China became the champion
of anti-American causes.

Third World leaders
and Western intellectuals

flocked to Beijing.

In Moscow,
Khrushchev was pursuing

peaceful coexistence
with the West.

NARRATOR: The Kremlin is
the setting of an historic event --

the signing
of an atom test ban.

The big three
representatives --

Dean Rusk, Andrei Gromyko
and Lord Home

sign for the US,
Russia, and Britain.

Most other nations
of the world,

with the notable exception
of France, Communist China,

and Cuba
are to sign later.

Communist China had
denounced the Soviets

for making the treaty,
widening further the breach

between the two
communist powers.

NARRATION: Mao reacted
to the nuclear test ban treaty

with defiance.

LYNDON JOHNSON:
The Chinese communist nuclear detonation

is a reflection
of policies

which do not serve
the cause of peace.

But there is no reason

to fear
that it will lead

to immediate dangers of war.

The nations of the free world

will recognize
its limited significance

and will persevere
in their determination

to preserve
their independence.

NARRATIONI
In 1965,

US Marines were sent
to South Vietnam.

President Johnson
was determined to prevent

communist North Vietnam
and its allies in the South

gaining power.

In China, the masses
were mobilized

to support neighboring
North Vietnam.

[ Shouting ]

The rulers in Hanoi
are urged on by Peking.

This is a regime

which has destroyed freedom
in Tibet,

which has attacked India,

and has been condemned
by the United Nations

for aggression
in Korea.

It is a nation

which is helping
the forces of violence

in almost every continent.

The contest in Vietnam
is part

of a wider pattern

of aggressive purposes.

NARRATION: A war between
China and the United States

was once again
a possibility.

Haunted by the failure
of the Great Leap Forward,

Mao was fighting
to maintain

his domination
of China.

In 1966,

he launched
the Great Cultural Revolution.

[ Liu speaking Chinese]

INTERPRETER: He failed to
bring about an economic miracle.

So in 1966, he wanted
a political miracle.

He not only wanted
to get rid of his enemies,

he wanted to do something

that Stalin had been
unable to do --

destroy government
bureaucracy.

WU:
The Mao personality cult

did not
come to full blossoming

until the Cultural
Revolution

when he became
the so-called Four Greats --

the Great leader,
Great Helmsman,

Great Supreme Commander,
Great Teacher.

He has replaced Stalin

and Beijing had
become world --

the center
of world revolution.

NARRATION:
Millions of young people were recruited

to be Mao's
Red Guards.

[ Chanting ]

Their idealism was
exploited to create mayhem,

and to destroy
every vestige of the past.

NARRATOR:
Chairman Mao says,

"Marxism consists
of thousands of truths

but they all boil down
to one phrase --

It's right to rebel.

The proletarian
revolutionary rebels

hold high the great Red banner
of Mao Zedohgs thought

through big character posters
and great debates.

They argue things out,
expose,

criticize
and repudiate thoroughly

and launch fierce attacks

on all kinds of representatives
of the bourgeoisie."

[ Man speaking Chinese]

INTERPRETER: The first action
was to change the names of roads.

The name of the road
outside the Soviet Embassy

was changed to
Anti-Revisionism Road.

There were demonstrations
outside the Soviet Embassy.

Most of the demonstrators
were Red Guards.

[ Shouting ]

[ Mochulski speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: In the morning
they would hang up dummies

of Brezhnev, Kosygin,
and Podgorny.

When it began to get dark,

they took them down
and started a huge bonfire

at the entrance
of the Embassy --

and burned the dummies.

The Red Guards
and the young people

gathered around
the fire

and danced and yelled
anti-Soviet slogans.

From midnight to 6:00 AM,

it was time
for Chinese torture.

For 15 minutes
they would stop

and we would start
falling asleep,

exhausted by the noise.

Then they would begin
yelling again

for 15 minutes.

Every 15 minutes they would
start and stop --

all night.

Then at 6100 AM,

the noise would begin
and continue all day.

NARRATIONI
In 1969,

tension along the vast
Soviet-Chinese border increased.

[ Narrator speaking
Russian ]

NARRATION:
There were frequent clashes.

The Ussuri River
in Soviet East Asia

was the scene
of many of them.

NARRATOR:
China's brave fishermen are full of heroism

and bright wisdom.

They're not afraid
of heaven or earth.

The filth of
the Soviet Revisionists

causes them no fear.

[ Simchenkov speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER:
There were a lot of provocations

from the Chinese.

They crossed the border
in huge numbers.

What could we do?

It wouldn't be nice
to shoot them.

But how could we
get rid of them?

It was a difficult question
to solve

and so things
got worse.

The Chinese
were mostly to blame.

NARRATION: Images of
aggressive Chinese at the border

fuel led Soviet fears
of an invasion.

[ Deluisin speaking Russian ]

INTERPRETER: Siberia and the
Far East were sparsely populated,

so what if
the Chinese millions

began pouring in'?

Writers had warned before
about the "yellow peril."

That the Chinese would come
right through Russia

and conquer Europe.

[speaking Chinese]

The Soviet Union had
a nuclear arsenal

and one million troops
along the border

between the Soviet Union
and China.

North of Beijing were
flat plains

and if the Soviet Union were
to attack China,

within a week they would be
in Beijing

with their tanks.

NARRATION:
A battle was fought over a tiny island

in the Ussuri River
in March 1969.

Mutual hostility was
escalating, dangerously.

Our CIA estimated
the chances

of an iron bomb attack

by the Soviet Union on China

was one in three,

to show you how real
that fear was.

And meanwhile,
by 1969,

the Chinese were building,
at a furious rate,

these great huge
underground shelters

in their cities.

So there was
a real fear of war

that was building up.

NARRATION: The vast network
of shelters tunneled underground

was meant to withstand
nuclear attack.

In Moscow,
Soviet crowds demonstrated

outside
the Chinese Embassy.

The Soviet Press hinted at

a possible nuclear war
with China.

[speaking Russian ]

I don't think anyone
in Moscow had serious plans

for a nuclear missile strike
on China.

It would have been
madness.

But there were people I met
in diplomatic circles

who said to me
it wouldn't be a bad thing

to hit the Chinese
with a missile.

NARRATION:
Soviet Premier Kosygin visited Beijing

in October 1969

to stop a potential war

and restore relations.

[speaking Chinese]

When Zhou Eniai met
Kosygin at Beijing Airport,

he said to him,

"If you attack
our nuclear installations

with atomic weapons,

that counts as war,

as an invasion
of our territory.

China won't hesitate
to respond.

NARRATION:
Mao, fearful of Moscow's belligerence,

had already decided
he wanted

better relations
with America.

America's new President,
Richard Nixon,

although a lifelong
anti-communist,

came to a similar
conclusion.

To limit Soviet power
and end the Vietnam war,

he wanted to draw
closer to China.

With his new
National Security Adviser,

Henry Kissinger,

Nixon developed
a foreign policy

which exploited the hostility
between the communist giants.

It began to dawn on us

after we'd been
in office for a while,

that there were
genuine tensions

between Russia and China,

and that probably
the Soviet Union was

the cause of the tensions
and not China,

which was the opposite
of the idea

with which we entered.

NARRATION:
The first sign of a thaw from Beijing

came during
a table tennis match.

In 1971,
while playing in Japan,

the American team was
suddenly invited to China.

I think it's a wonderful
opportunity to go to China

because not very many people
get there

and I feel it's a great
opportunity to play

against the top players
and be able to take

some of this knowledge home.

And I think it's also a step

in our political relations
with China.

NARRATION:
The team's home movies offered

the first glimpse of China
for most Americans

for 20 years.

MAN:
The scene was more disorienting

because you would see
slogans,

signs every place,

"Long live the unity
of the people of the world!"

"Down with US imperialists

and all their running dogs."

You would see
these poster boards

that would kinda take
the place of newspapers,

and there, you know,

you'd see a picture of
President Nixon, for instance,

with a knife stuck
into him --

a little pygmy Nixon,

and a Chinese giant,
you know,

taking care of him
and so forth, you know.

And so meanwhile,
you know, everybody's smiling

and being nice to us
and so on, right?

They've got this slogan,

"Friendship first,
competition second."

And they very nicely,
I think,

beat us
six matches to five matches.

NARRATION: Ping-pong diplomacy
led to an even greater breakthrough.

In July 1971,

Henry Kissinger went
on a tour of Asia.

His most important mission
was kept secret --

a visit to Beijing
to prepare the way

for a rapprochement
with China.

As the plane was
getting close

to the Chinese border,

we were all aware
of the fact

that no American official
had been in China

since 1949 --
22 years.

I decided I'd like
to be first.

And so while Kissinger
was sitting

in the back of the plane,

I went to the front
of the plane,

so as the plane
went over the Chinese border

I was the first
American official into China

in 22 years.

Henry never
forgave me for that,

elbowed me aside
and got off the plane first.

I didn't put my foot down
and say,

now I have just made history

and this will never be
forgotten.

I thought who am I
going to meet

and how am I gonna
bring it to a conclusion?

Nixon was very secretive
by nature.

Kissinger was
a maneuverer,

an operator by nature.

They both greatly enjoyed

this kind of an operation.

President Nixon,
who was very decisive

and very capable of making
big decisions,

was not however capable
of over-ruling subordinates

to their face,

and therefore he found it
very, very painful --

in fact, he found it
to all practical purposes

impossible
to tell a bureaucracy,

"I disagree with you

and you will do it my way."

He'd rather set up
a back channel.

I was going through
back doors and back channels

and setting up for some kind
of secret meeting

that would make certain kinds
of secret arrangements,

that were done behind
the state department's back,

behind the back
of everybody,

and then be able
to surprise the world

with his announcement.

That was great theater.

NARRATION:
Nixon's trip to Beijing

changed
the balance of the Cold War.

His Chinese triumph also
stole the headlines

from the increasingly grim
events in Vietnam.

[speaking Chinese]

At that time we felt
very excited.

We thought that
this was a very good thing,

because China's isolation
from the rest of the world

had created
many disasters.

I knew that Mao didn't have
very long to live,

and I thought that he'd
at last made a good decision.

I also believed that
only Mao could

make that decision,

that whoever succeeded him
wouldn't have

the courage to make
such a decision.

NARRATOR:
Premier Zhou Enlai moves forward to greet

the first American President
to set foot

on Chinese soil.

[ light applause, chatter]

East meets West

as a handshake bridges
16,000 miles

and 22 years
of hostility.

There are no
welcoming speeches,

no formal ceremonies --

just a receiving line
made up

of communist party officials

and the military band playing
"The Star Spangled Banner."

NARRATION:
Nixon, the lifelong anti-communist,

quoted Mao's own words.

NIXON:
So many deeds cry out to be done

and always urgently.

The world rolls on.

Time passes.

10,000 years
are too long.

Seize the day.

Seize the hour.

This is the hour.

This is the day.

NARRATOR: Peking newspapers
which had played down the Nixon visit,

now give it
front page coverage.

Dealers sell out,
as readers follow day by day

the President's activities.

Today the President walks
among priceless treasures

from China's golden age.

Among them,
a pair of ear stoppers

used by the Emperor,

to keep from
hearing criticism.

Give me a pair.

[ laughter ]

KISSINGER:
I didn't put my foot down and say,

"Now I have just
made history."

On the way back
from Beijing,

I knew
we had made history.