Capitalist gains of a hardline regime | Bangkok Post: opinion

CHINA'S ADVANCE IN A GLOBALISED WORLD

When US President Richard Nixon embarked on his historic trip to China 40 years ago, he could not have imagined what his gamble would unleash. The immediate diplomatic impact, of course, was to reshape Eurasia's geopolitical balance and put the Soviet Union on the defensive. But the long-term outcome of America's rapprochement with China became visible only recently, with the economic integration of the People's Republic into the world economy.

Nixon: Convinced China to open up

Had Nixon not acted in 1972, China's self-imposed isolation would have continued. Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening of China to the world would have been far more difficult.