At first, Downing only thought that Kissinger's words about taking him to China were a joke, but to his surprise, he was really allowed to join President Nixon's entourage to China, and when he received the news, Downing was ecstatic, and after more than 20 years, he finally had the opportunity to return to his homeland to see, although it was a little regrettable to go back as an American, but it was a good thing to be able to go back.

At that time, President Nixon's visit to China was of special significance, which was a turning point in the transformation of Sino-US relations from a pattern of hostility and confrontation to reconciliation and normalization of relations, and some people called it an "ice-breaking trip";

From the perspective of the United States, Nixon visited China for three reasons: first, the expansion of the Soviet Union in the Third World made the United States feel that its hegemony was threatened by the Soviet Union; Second, Nixon wanted to achieve the goal of détente with the Soviet Union by co-opting China. Nixon went to Beijing in February 1972 and the Soviet Union in May 1972 and signed an "anti-ballistic" treaty with the Soviet Union. The third reason is that the United States wants to withdraw from the Vietnam War, and China is the main country supporting Vietnam, and the United States wants China to put pressure on Vietnam.

From the Chinese side, first of all, it was already felt that the USSR was the greatest threat to China at that time; Second, the special historical period has made China unprecedented in the history of diplomacy, and the leaders very much hope to open a gap in the United States so that we can make a breakthrough in diplomacy, and in fact this effect has been achieved.

For Americans who are not yet familiar with China, this visit is no less meaningful than a visit to the moon. It is precisely because of this unusual visit that China and the United States have entered a new stage of exchange.

Speaking of which, Downing was able to join the entourage this time, and it really asked Kissinger for his efforts, because when the visit was discussed in advance. The Chinese side greatly reduced the number of people in the US entourage, and in the end it was only fixed at 350 people, and only 80 people were given a total of 80 places for media reporters. Speaking of journalists, during the consultations, the United States raised an issue that China found extremely thorny. That was to televised the interview.

With the advancement of television technology in the United States, television news reporting has played an important role in politics. Nixon experienced both failures and successes in television reporting, and was well aware of the role of television reporting in his political life. Television journalists are the largest group of journalists accompanying him on his trips to China.

The US president's foreign visits are always accompanied by a strong press corps, which is both a characteristic and a necessity of the developed American information society. During the US president's foreign visits, he holds daily press briefings, transmits television programs via satellite, and broadcasts television live at any time. But at the time. This is something very new to China, even unheard of.

At that time, the development level of China's black-and-white television and the penetration rate of television were far behind those of the United States, and the development of color television was just in its infancy, and the types of television programs were extremely limited. Therefore, with the level of Chinese television, it cannot afford to cover the television coverage of Nixon's visit to China. The two sides agreed that the Chinese side would purchase the US satellite ground station equipment and lease it to the US side for use. In Beijing and Shanghai, the Chinese side built several small bungalows by surprise. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, together with the technical staff and interpreters of Beijing Television Station, assisted the US side in installing the satellite ground station and ancillary equipment provided by the US side.

On February 21, 1972, President Nixon's special plane, Air Force One, finally entered China's airspace. However, things did not go as smoothly as later reports, because China and the United States have not yet established diplomatic relations, so American planes cannot fly freely in China's airspace, even presidential planes.

In the end, an agreement was reached, and the presidential plane flew to Shanghai first, and after arriving in Shanghai, the Chinese side sent an advance team. He also took a navigator on board the presidential plane and then flew to Beijing to show respect for China's sovereignty. When they arrived in Shanghai for a short stop to allow the Chinese navigator to board the plane, the reporters were surprised to find a flagpole in front of the modern parking building. There was only a lonely American flag fluttering, and there was no shadow of a passenger or a plane landing or taking off in the entire airport, Tang Ning was not surprised at all and said calmly: "There is nothing strange about this, such a big political event, with the habit of the Chinese government, must close the airport, and all the other flights will be canceled." ”

At 11:30 a.m. Beijing time on the 21st, Nixon's plane finally landed at Beijing Tianzhu Airport, which was very consistent with the previously expected time, in fact, this time was also carefully arranged by Nixon, because at this time, it happened to be 10:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, which was also the time when the TV audience was the largest.

When Nixon came down the ramp of the plane, he first stretched out his hand, and he reached out to shake hands with Premier Zhou before he reached out. Nixon did this for a reason, because at the time of the 1954 Geneva Conference, Zhou Enlai wanted to shake hands with US Secretary of State Dulles, but Dulles refused, and later this story became a case of discord between China and the United States, and Nixon also hoped to take this rare opportunity to rebuild the good image of the Americans.

The historic handshake between the two men marked the beginning of a new era, but the only regret was the welcome ceremony at the airport, where there was neither a cheering crowd nor a red carpet to welcome the head of state, only an American flag and a five-star red flag fluttering side by side on the airport. There were only a few big slogans on the airport, most of which had nothing to do with Nixon -- "Long live the Communist Party of China" and "Long live the great unity of the people of the world." There was also a guard of honor of less than 500 people, who sang a Red Army song from the 30s "Three Disciplines, Eight Attentions".

This kind of cold reception is also due to the fact that China and the United States have not established diplomatic relations, and for the visit of a head of state before the establishment of diplomatic relations, even though it is a visit by the president of the United States, the Chinese side still adheres to the principle of sovereignty, is neither warm nor lukewarm, and cannot warmly welcome the head of state that has established normal diplomatic relations, nor does it completely maintain a state of complete cold isolation, so it adopts such a special way of receiving a visit. (To be continued.) )