Chapter 27 Nixon's visit to China

In July 1971, when we had not been on duty for a long time at Tiananmen Square, the army leaders assigned a special security mission and conveyed a secret that was not allowed to be leaked: Dr. Henry Kissinger, US President Nixon’s National Security Affairs Assistant, visited China .At that time, the matter was required to be kept strictly confidential.It is said that Kissinger's visit to China was made through multiple letters sent by Pakistani President Yahya Khan and Romanian President Ceausescu to the top leaders of China and the United States. With the joint efforts of Chairman Mao Zedong, Premier Zhou Enlai and American President Nixon , seize the historic opportunity, and break through all kinds of obstacles.Kissinger secretly flew from Pakistan to Beijing on July 9, accompanied by Chinese Zhang Wenjin, Wang Hairong, and Tang Wensheng.During his stay in Beijing, he lived in Building No. 5 of Diaoyutai Hotel, and held six talks with Premier Zhou, including two talks in the Great Hall of the People.The only time out is to visit the Palace Museum.During the entire visit, no information was disclosed to the outside world.Prior to this, although we saw that Premier Zhou instructed our relevant departments to take the initiative to invite the American table tennis team to visit China in accordance with Chairman Mao’s decision-making, to carry out table tennis diplomacy, to turn the big ball with a small ball, and to open up friendly exchanges between the people of China and the United States the gate.But at a time when China and the United States have been hostile to each other for a long time, the secret reception of a special representative of the President of the United States seems to be shocking and incomprehensible in the eyes of many people.I remember that after Kissinger’s secret visit, Premier Zhou immediately flew to Hanoi and Pyongyang in person, and introduced Kissinger’s visit to China with Le Duan, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Vietnam, Prime Minister Pham Van Dong and North Korean Prime Minister Kim Il Sung. , and met with the Cambodian head of state, Prince Sihanouk, and the Albanian ambassador to China, Rob, in Beijing, and informed them of the content of the talks with Kissinger and the assessment of the situation.Gained the understanding and support of international friends.

In October 1971, after the People's Republic of China resumed its legal seat in the United Nations, my country's diplomacy became extremely active.I remember that almost at the same time when our country joined the United Nations, Kissinger visited China secretly again and still lived in Building 5 of Diaoyutai Hotel.Premier Zhou and Kissinger held 10 talks successively. In addition to discussing issues such as the date of Nixon's visit to China, the method of talks, and communication and contact, the two sides exchanged views on major international issues such as Taiwan, Indochina, and North Korea.Paved the way for Nixon's visit to China.

Just at the beginning of 1972, the Chinese government and people were silently preparing for the arrival of Nixon. We found that Tiananmen Square and its surrounding areas were also quietly changing: some slogans with anti-American views on the square Replacement was carried out; Fangdi East Road and Antidi West Road located on the south side of Tiananmen Square resumed their previous road names - Dongjiaomin Lane and Xijiaomin Lane; all the facades of Qianmen Street were decorated and painted; All the lanterns on the street have been overhauled. As Nixon's visit to China approached, the security work was also intensively deployed.My company was on duty in Tiananmen Square. According to Nixon's agenda, apart from staying at the Diaoyutai Hotel, the main activities were concentrated in the Great Hall of the People.In addition, the visit to the Forbidden City and the pick-up and drop-off all have to pass through Tiananmen Square, so there are many tasks for Nixon and his delegation to China.The superiors mobilized the comrades who participated in the mission for many times, and conveyed Premier Zhou's reception policy of neither humble nor overbearing.And introduced Nixon in detail.Now I only remember that Richard Millhouse Nixon was born in California, USA in 1913. He is a Republican.In order to ensure safety, we also went to Nixon's passing route to conduct simulated drills many times, and checked and changed the clothing of plainclothes guards to prevent being identified as plainclothes guards.

Nixon arrived in Beijing on February 21.The guards drawn by my company and several other brother companies in my battalion set up sentries in advance on Chang'an Avenue east and west of Tiananmen according to the pre-rehearsal division of labor.The biggest feature of the welcome route this time is that there are many plainclothes guards. Although some soldiers in gray tunic suits carry satchels, some deliberately pretend to be walking casually, making it difficult for outsiders to recognize them as plainclothes guards.However, with my upright figure, one-color attire, youthful age, and the work card pinned to my chest (to prevent bad guys from impersonating me), I can still be seen by insiders as my plainclothes security guard.On this day, the weather was extremely cold, and some plainclothes guards without overcoats were shivering from the cold, but everyone braved the severe cold and persisted for nearly two hours, ensuring that Premier Zhou's convoy to welcome Nixon passed here smoothly, successfully completing the trip Guard missions with epoch-making historical significance.During the five days in Beijing, Nixon went to the Great Hall of the People many times to participate in various activities.At that time, the weather was extremely cold, but no matter whether it was morning or evening, as soon as we were notified, we immediately went to the sentry, and no one complained about the cold.Especially on the 25th, Nixon and his wife visited the Forbidden City accompanied by Ye Jianying, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission.Because of the heavy snowfall the night before, the entire Forbidden City was covered in silver and white.But the time of visit cannot be changed.In order not to affect the effect of Nixon's visit, so that the President of the United States of America on the other side of the Pacific could see the true face of Lushan Mountain, the most complete ancient palace complex with a history of nearly 600 years in my country, Beijing sent several snow-sweeping vehicles Machines began to clean the snow in the main passages and courtyards of the Forbidden City from early in the morning.On the street from Diaoyutai to the Forbidden City, snow removal vehicles also sprayed salt water to melt the ice and snow on the road.In addition to setting up sentries with brother companies in the three halls of Taihe, Zhonghe, and Baohe, as well as the giant dragon sculptures and treasure halls behind the Baohe Hall, and leaving one person on duty at each of the original normal posts, the other All the personnel carried brooms and shovels to the Forbidden City to sweep snow with the brother company.What we clean are places that snowplows cannot reach, such as steps, small courtyards on the main hall, dragon sculptures, etc.At that time, there were still sporadic snowflakes in the sky, but everyone was very motivated, sweeping and shoveling, and steam rose from the head after a while, and finally cleared all the snow on the scenic spots before Nixon's arrival.A comrade-in-arms who joined the army at the same year as me said to me: When you were sweeping snow outside, I was the only one on guard at the Hall of Supreme Harmony. If I hadn’t been disciplined, I really wanted to go up and sit on the golden lacquered and carved dragon throne on the Golden Luan Hall.Accompanied by Ye Jianying, Nixon and his wife toured the three main halls of the Forbidden City, giant dragon sculptures, unearthed cultural relics and treasure halls with great interest.When Mrs. Nixon saw the colorful and rare corals in the Treasure Hall of the East Six Palaces, she said excitedly: I have never seen such beautiful corals.The magical Forbidden City left a good impression on American guests.Nixon also held talks with Zhou Enlai many times in the Great Hall of the People, attended banquets and watched cultural programs, and we all engaged in security work for him outside the Great Hall.

With his unique foresight and insight, Nixon, together with Chinese leaders, opened the door of China and the United States that had been frozen for 22 years, opening a new page in Sino-US relations. On August 9, 1974, Nixon was forced to resign due to the "Watergate Incident".This is the first president of the United States who was forced to resign before the expiration of his term.For a long time, the U.S. ruling and opposition parties spared no effort in attacking Nixon.The Chinese government expresses deep sympathy and regret for Nixon's situation.Chairman Mao Zedong wrote many times to invite Nixon, who had contributed to Sino-US relations, to visit China again, and in December 1975, he received the visiting daughter and son-in-law of Nixon. On February 21, 1976, on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of Nixon's first visit to China, Nixon broke through many obstacles and came to China again. Although there was no guard of honor and a large welcome team at the airport this time, a red carpet was also laid out and received by 300 hand-held Flowers are welcome for the masses.He was arranged to live in Building 18 of the Diaoyutai Hotel where he lived during his first visit to China, and was soon received by Chairman Mao.In short, Nixon was an out-of-state head of state received by the Chinese government with an exceptional high standard.For this visit, Nixon's visit agenda is still very tight.Once, I was on duty under the statue of the great man on the east side of the square, and found that there were many people watching on the east side of the monument, so I went over to check. It turned out that Nixon, accompanied by Foreign Minister Qiao Guanhua, had just visited the history museum of our company guards , Nixon intentionally walked to the square to exchange ideas and talk freely with more than a hundred people who had gathered in the past.Nixon smiled and asked a man holding a child: How many children do you have?Man Answer: One.Nixon said: Do you want to have any more children.The man answered: I respond to the government's call for family planning, as long as I have this one child.Nixon asked: What do you ask your child to do when he grows up?The man answered: Follow the arrangements of the party.The lively and friendly dialogue fully confirmed that although Nixon stepped down in the United States due to the "Watergate Incident", he is still popular in China.

Today, when we look back on the history of the opening of Sino-US relations, in addition to especially remembering Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai who opened the way for the normalization of Sino-US relations, we will naturally think of the deceased Mr. Nixon and the living Kissinger PhD.As the Democratic leader of the US Senate, Mike Mansfield, said: The best thing Nixon did was to open the door to Sino-US relations.