The 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter Xun, caused a sensation in the world because he resolutely realized the normalization of relations with China during his tenure. He became the most popular American president after Nixon among the Chinese people. On October 1, 1924, Carter was born in Wise Hospital in Plains Township, Georgia. His grandfather, father and maternal grandfather were all soldiers during the Civil War, and they can be called a military family.At the age of 20, Carter served on the US Pacific Fleet conventional submarine "Pomfret" and once visited Qingdao, China. At the age of 29, because of his father's death, he retired and returned to the countryside to inherit his father's business, planting peanuts, and began a hard "torture" farm life.But more than ten years of hard work were not in vain. With the help of their mother, wife and younger brother, they owned 3,100 acres of land, 3 properties and company stocks, with a total asset value of more than 5 million US dollars.Carter became known as the great "Carter of Plainstown".Before running for president, Carter was elected senator at age 38 and governor of Georgia at age 46.During the 1976 presidential campaign, a well-known American newspaper stated that Atlanta was famous for the following five reasons: one was the Ku Klux Klan that no longer existed; the other was Coca-Cola; Bi Jones, the fourth is the masterpiece written by Margaret Mitchell and the classic movie starring Gable and Vivien Leigh, and the fifth is the peanut-growing "hillies" Carter running for the president of the United States.Carter was nominated by the Democratic Party on July 14, 1976, won the general election on November 2, and took office on January 20, 1977.Carter was also the first U.S. president in U.S. history to walk into the White House for his inauguration.

Deng Xiaoping chose to fly to the United States on the first day of the Lunar New Year.It is extremely rare in the history of world diplomacy for the president of a country to hold an official ceremony to welcome the deputy prime minister of another country in such a grand manner. December 16, 1978 at 10:00 a.m. (December 15, 9:00 p.m. Washington time) is a memorable moment for the world.After 30 years of isolation, China and the United States, the two great powers in the East and the West, finally came together in a "Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations": On January 1, 1979, the People's Republic of China and the United States of America Mutual recognition and establishment of diplomatic relations.This is a big news that affects the world and the future.What is even more shocking than this news is that Deng Xiaoping will also visit the United States.

As soon as the news of Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States, which had just been named "World News Figure" in 1978 by the US "Time" magazine, was announced, the alarm of the assassination continued to come from the other side of the ocean.Taiwan's and the United States' secret service organizations claimed to "show a little color", and threatened to have bribed the "Italian gunman" to "do something that Deng will never forget."Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, China has had successful experience in leaders' overseas visits and painful lessons like the bombing of the "Kashmir Princess" Prime Minister's plane.For Deng Xiaoping's safety, China and the United States made careful arrangements and arrangements, and the United States even sent the "Air Force One" presidential plane to conduct a special investigation in the early stage.At this time, Jimmy Carter, who was the president of the United States, couldn't help being surprised when he heard that China had only sent seven security personnel to the United States.He was even more flattered to hear that the Chinese side agreed to hand over the security responsibility for Deng Xiaoping's visit to the US to the US side.He feels that this is China's greatest trust in the United States, and he is both moved and responsible.He clearly instructed the Federal Security Bureau to be responsible for Deng Xiaoping's safety, and to use all forces to take all measures to ensure Deng Xiaoping's safety was "safe."

This evening, it was snowing.Carter, who had never met Deng Xiaoping, could not sleep at night. Although he and Deng Xiaoping had been in charge of the entire process of the negotiations on the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, it seemed to be "remote control".Although Woodcock, who served in Beijing (later the first U.S. ambassador to China), had suggested that he visit China, Carter had already made up his mind: "An official visit to President Nixon and President Ford by a top leader in China Before I make a return visit, I am not planning to go to (China).” Deng Xiaoping is about to come, but what kind of person is Deng Xiaoping?In the dead of night, Carter was still carefully reading the thick analysis materials prepared for him by American intelligence experts on this politician who could miraculously regenerate in the political arena.He knew that at 4 feet 11 inches, Deng was considered short in China.One of the materials stated that at a Politburo meeting in 1975, when several of Mao Zedong's proposals were discussed, Mao Zedong asked those who disagreed to stand up.Deng Xiaoping really stood up.It is said that Mao glanced coldly at Deng and said, "Because I didn't see anyone standing up, I proposed that all pass it." But a politician like Deng stood up again three times after being knocked down three times. In the eyes of Western critics, it is simply unbelievable.Not only that, Carter reviewed the details of all the reception plans in detail three weeks ago, even including the menu of the state banquet.The U.S. State Department issued as many as 2,000 special press cards, so that this epoch-making event in the history of bilateral relations can be fully known to the world.

Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States is the first senior leader of the People's Republic of China to visit the United States since the founding of New China 30 years ago.Moreover, Deng Xiaoping chose this day to be a traditional festival of the Chinese nation—the Spring Festival.The first day of the Lunar New Year (January 28, 1979, Beijing time), according to traditional Chinese culture and Chinese people's living habits, this day is an auspicious day, the first day of the new year!Vientiane update.Perhaps Deng Xiaoping chose this intentionally. Therefore, in his speech at the welcome ceremony, Carter specially added a sentence with a religious meaning: "In the New Year, you have opened all doors and windows to the gods of charity." He was even satisfied with adding this sentence. joy.In preparation for his meeting with Deng Xiaoping, Carter also gave a special talk to television reporters for broadcast in China.He later said in his memoirs that his televised speech was broadcast repeatedly in China, so when he later visited China, people on the street recognized him as soon as they met.He is very happy about it.

On the morning of January 29, 1979, the snowy weather suddenly cleared up.The blue sky, the bright sunshine, and snowflakes still hung on the bushes beside the South Lawn of the White House.For the first time, the five-star red flag flying side by side with the American Stars and Stripes in front of the 179-year-old White House is particularly bright and eye-catching.In this land seven years ago, it was even hard to find printed materials of the Five-Starred Red Flag. It is hard to forget that just after the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly on October 25, 1971 overwhelmingly passed the proposal to restore all legal rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations (i.e., Resolution 2758), on behalf of Chiang Kai-shek's regime After the blue sky, white sun, and red flags were lowered that day, the 23rd flagpole that hung the Chinese flag in front of the United Nations Building was vacant for 6 days, because the United Nations Secretariat searched all over New York and could not find a flag of the People’s Republic of China. five-star red flag.Later, some said it was from an Indian-published "World Knowledge Handbook" of the Indian Mission to the United Nations, and some said it was a contribution from a staff member of Chinese descent in the United Nations that he bought and kept in secret when he was traveling in Paris, France. In this Beijing publication, I found a printing sample of the Five-Star Red Flag.In this way, until November 1, a five-star red flag made of nylon material with the same size as the national flags of other member states, 1.8 meters long and 1.2 meters wide, was finally hoisted at the United Nations.But it is said that this five-star red flag is still not standard. The proportion and arrangement of the big five-pointed star and four small five-pointed stars on the flag are not our proportions, and it is very irregular.But this is not easy.According to an article published in The New York Times by William Otis, the Associated Press correspondent at the United Nations Headquarters, "Communist China's five-star red flag was hoisted for the first time today (November 1) at the United Nations Headquarters. It is a historic moment. It is quite interesting that two African-Americans raised the flag: 24-year-old Willard Bodie and 28-year-old George Baldwin." On November 8, Xinhua News Agency reporter Gao Liang led a delegation As the secretary, he led the Chinese advance team to New York and handed over the standard five-star red flag brought from Beijing to the officials of the Protocol Department of the United Nations. Since then, the five-star red flag made by the Chinese has been flying high in the United Nations.

From this we can see what the "hostile" isolation between China and the United States looked like before Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States.China has been "demonized" in the United States, and Chinese publications are regarded as "enemy propaganda" by the US authorities. At 10 o'clock in the morning on January 29, 1979, the White House welcomed its most distinguished guest from the East.US President Carter and his wife accompanied Deng Xiaoping and his wife to the podium covered with red carpet.The military band played the national anthems of China and the United States, and a 19-gun salute was fired.Then, Deng Xiaoping and Carter walked side by side through the long red carpet, reviewing the guard of honor of the three armed forces together.Obviously, Deng Xiaoping enjoyed the courtesy of the head of government.Since Deng Xiaoping was the vice-premier of China at the time, the American reporter expressed emotion: It is extremely rare in the history of world diplomacy for a president of a country to hold a formal ceremony to welcome the vice-premier of another country so grandly.

Public opinion generally believes that before Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States, no foreign dignitary had ever received such a grand reception by the US government. When Churchill visited the United States in 1946, he received unprecedented welcome from the U.S. ruling and opposition parties, but the grandeur was far less than Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States this time.The reason is that Americans worship Churchill as a hero, but he does not represent anything when the "World War II" has ended and Churchill has stepped down as prime minister. In 1959, when Khrushchev visited the United States, he received a grand reception.At that time, the U.S. government arranged a visit program for him, the climax of which was a visit to Disneyland, a bird's-eye view of the ant colony of private cars on the road, and a day of purely American rural life.But in the eyes of Americans, Khrushchev is nothing more than a bumpkin.But Deng Xiaoping's situation is quite different from this --- he has a legendary political experience, he is a veritable representative of a big country and the pioneer and leader of China's ambitious modernization cause.

In fact, visiting the United States has always been a long-cherished wish of Chinese leaders. Mao Zedong has repeatedly expressed his wish to "visit the United States."In 1944 during the War of Resistance Against Japan, Mao Zedong talked to Colonel David Barrett, the leader of the US military observation team stationed in Yan'an at that time, and his favorite diplomat, John Xieweisi. Fly to Washington to visit President Roosevelt.But later, due to various reasons, Roosevelt did not make up his mind.After the founding of New China, Mao Zedong also expressed his willingness to swim in the Mississippi River in the United States when he met with American progressive journalist Edgar Snow.It is said that when Mao Zedong met with Anna Louise Strong and the black friends Du Bois and his wife, he also expressed similar thoughts half-seriously and half-jokingly.

The same is true for Deng Xiaoping. On November 29, 1978, when Deng Xiaoping met with the Japanese Komeito Party’s 7th visit to China in the Great Hall of the People, he said to Takeiri Yoshikatsu: “I still have one wish, which is to go to Washington, but I don’t know if it will come true. Americans always say why don’t I go to Washington? There is Taiwan’s embassy there, how can I go. Only when Sino-US relations are normalized, we Chinese leaders can go. In international affairs, I just need to complete this Then we can see Marx.” Deng Xiaoping believed that this crucially depends on the determination of the U.S. government and President Carter.He also said: "The normalization of Sino-Japanese relations can be resolved in one second, and the normalization of Sino-US relations can be doubled, and it can be resolved in two seconds."

For Deng Xiaoping, this was also his second visit to the United States.The first time he came to the United States was in April 1974. At that time, as the head of the Chinese delegation, he attended the 6th special session of the United Nations General Assembly held in New York and introduced Mao Zedong's theory of "three worlds" to the world for the first time. , causing a sensation in the audience.Two full years later, he was wronged again and was dismissed from his post, and China fell into a deep crisis. And this visit to the United States is a major move for Deng Xiaoping to push China on the road of modernization after his comeback.At home, he wants to vigorously promote reform and opening up, implement economic and political system reforms; abroad, he seeks not only peace and friendship, but also funds, talents, advanced technology and management experience, and more importantly, national security .Around 1979, the Soviet Union, a superpower, formed a "C"-shaped encirclement of China not only through its own territory but also through countries and regions such as Mongolia and Vietnam, seriously threatening China's security.Deng Xiaoping knew that to contain Soviet hegemonism, it was not enough to rely on the strength of himself and the people of the third world, but also to rely on the strength of Western Europe, Japan, and the United States.This may be the real purpose of Deng Xiaoping's choice to fly over the Pacific Ocean on the first day of the Lunar New Year. It is said that on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the weather in Beijing was very cold, and it began to rain early in the morning.At 8 o'clock in the morning, Deng Xiaoping and his wife Zhuo Lin shook hands with Li Xiannian, Wang Zhen, Yu Qiuli, Geng Biao and others who came to see him off. After hugging his little granddaughter, Deng Xiaoping boarded the Boeing 707 plane.According to the scheduled time, the plane will take off at 8:30.After the farewell ceremony, the plane taxied slowly on the runway.However, at this time, the meteorological department reported strong wind and heavy rain at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, and the visibility dropped to less than 1 kilometer, which did not meet the 1.5 kilometer visibility standard for flight takeoff and landing.The plane could not take off, but Li Xiannian and other leaders still stood there and waved to the taxiing plane.what to do?Some people suggested that Li Xiannian and other leaders should go back to the house to rest with Deng Xiaoping, and wait for the conditions for take-off to be met before sending them off again.Looking at the old comrades who were seeing them off in the wind and rain outside the window, Deng Xiaoping felt that they could not be allowed to wait here any longer, so he said: "Our plane will taxi out first, and after letting them all leave, we will make a circle on the runway before returning to the airport. Come and wait on the apron." After the people who saw us off had left, Deng Xiaoping said, "We won't get off the plane." After waiting for more than half an hour, news from Shanghai said that the weather conditions were not enough.However, if we continue to wait like this for a long time, it will affect the scheduled visit to the United States.what to do?On the one hand, it is the safety of the leaders, and on the other hand, the plan for the first visit to the United States cannot be cancelled.Just when everyone was hesitating, Deng Xiaoping gave the order firmly: "Take off!" After the special plane flew to Shanghai, the visibility was still only 1 kilometer.And Shanghai is a place where you must land and refuel, otherwise you will not be able to fly across the Pacific Ocean.Besides, there are still two Air Force pilots sent by the US to board and lead the flight in Shanghai.The plane landed slowly under the steady operation of the experienced captain Xu Bailing.But when the wheels were lowered and approaching the runway, Xu Bailing found that one wheel was off the runway. If the wheel fell on the grass, the plane would have an accident, and the consequences would be disastrous.Just as he was about to touch the ground, Xu Bailing quickly pulled the plane up.The first landing failed.Everyone is more worried about Comrade Xiaoping.But Comrade Xiaoping was wearing a seat belt and was very calm.After the plane circled over the airport, Xu Bailing performed the second landing calmly and freely.This time, it finally succeeded!The plane was originally scheduled to stop in Shanghai for one hour, but the time was delayed due to the weather. After the plane was fully refueled, Deng Xiaoping asked the crew to take off as soon as possible.After a 15-hour flight (with a one-hour stop at Anchorage Air Force Base in Alaska), he arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington at 4:30 am on the 29th (3:30 pm on the 28th US local time). Outside the window, the snow is covered, the colorful flags are flying, the five-star red flag and the star-spangled banner are fluttering in the wind among the welcoming crowd.