All right, L'Lasl Montgomery here once again. You didn't ask for it, but I gave it to you anyway.

This is part two in a special 10-year anniversary edition of the China History Podcast.

Even though we're still in the middle of the history of Xinjiang series, as a special bonus to commemorate the first decade of the CHP,

you get in this special program at no additional cost to the already low price you've been paying since 2010.

So let's get back to our exciting story.

Last time we all got to hear about the setup to the whole drama about to unfold.

Now it was time to actually make these hopes turn into reality.

Richard Nixon, no dummy when it came to political astuteness,

new with a high degree of certainty liberals and conservatives

would both roast them alive if they knew this path was being explored. The

liberals because many among them hated Mao's successes and dictatorial ways.

And most conservatives were dead set against this because talking to China was like

taking a knife and stabbing our South Vietnamese, Taiwanese, and Japanese allies in the back.

And then there was the whole matter of the Soviet Union and the interesting Cold War dynamic that existed there at this moment in time.

Yeah, Nixon was right to keep this one under his hat.

He knew if he got the State Department or Congress involved.

His China dream would leak to the

press and five seconds flat and then he'd be under attack by everyone even before he

got to first base. So Nixon and all the President's men, the ones he trusted, they had two secrets to keep.

First was the diplomatic aspect. No one could know. The U.S. was Jonesing to establish diplomatic relations with China and all the implications

of such an act.

The second secret was the actual visit of Nixon to China. Not only was this a matter of great significance

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