Nixon (hereinafter referred to as Nixon): You have read many books. The Premier said you
have read more than he has.
Mao Zedong (hereinafter referred to as Mao): Yesterday on the plane, you gave us a difficult
question. You said that a few of us should discuss the subject, limited to philosophy. [2]
(Laughter)
Nixon: I say that because I have read Chairman Mao's poems and speeches, and I know that
he is a philosopher with profound thoughts.
Mao: (Pointing to Dr. Kissinger) Is he a doctor of philosophy? [3]
Nixon: He is a doctor of thought.
Mao: (Pointing to Dr. Kissinger) Today's speaker is a doctor, a philosopher, a doctor of
philosophy.
Nixon: He is an expert in philosophy.
Henry Kissinger: When I was teaching at Harvard, I required my students to read the
complete works of Chairman Mao.
Mao: My writings are nothing special. There's little educational value in what I've written.
(Looking at the photographers) Now they're trying to disrupt our talks, disrupt the order we
have here.
Nixon: Chairman Mao's writings have moved a nation forward and changed the world.
Mao: I have no power to change the world. At most, I can change a few places near Beijing.
Our old friend, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, disagrees. He calls us communists. He even
recently gave a speech [4]. Have you seen it?
Zhou Enlai (hereinafter referred to as Zhou): It was at their recent "Congress."
Nixon: Chiang Kai-shek called the Chairman a Communist bandit. What did the Chairman call
Chiang Kai-shek?
Zhou: We generally call them the Chiang Kai-shek clique. In the newspapers, we sometimes
call them bandits. They call us bandits back. Regardless, we're just cursing at each other.
Mao: Isn't that still banditry? We call each other bandits and curse each other. In fact, we've
been friends with him for much longer than you have.
Zhou: Since 1924.



Nixon: Yes, I know.
Mao: We two shouldn't monopolize the conversation. Dr. Kissinger can't be excluded from
the conversation. You (referring to Kissinger) have become famous for your visits to China.
After your first visit to China [5] and the announcement was released, the whole world was
shocked.
Kissinger: The President sets the direction and decides on the plan.
Nixon: His words show that he is an extremely intelligent assistant. (Mao and Zhou laugh)
Mao: He was praising you, saying that what you did was very clever.
Nixon: He doesn't look like a secret agent. He's the only person capable of traveling to Paris
twelve times and to Beijing once without permission, and no one knows, except maybe two
or three beautiful girls. (Zhou Enlai laughs)
Kissinger: They don't know I'm being used as a cover.
Kissinger: Anyone who uses beautiful girls as a cover must be the greatest diplomat of all
time.
Mao: Your girls are often used, aren't they?
Nixon: His girls, not mine. If I used girls as a cover, I'd be in big trouble.
Zhou: (Laughs) Especially during the election. (Kissinger laughs) Dr. Kissinger isn't running for
president because he's not a natural-born American citizen.
Kissinger: Miss Tang is qualified to be president of the United States.
Nixon: Then she would be the first female president. We have a candidate.
Mao: If we had such a candidate, it would be very dangerous. To be honest, if the
Democratic Party came to power again, we would have to deal with it.
Nixon: We understand. We hope we won't have to confront you with such problems.
Mao: These issues aren't for me to discuss; they should be discussed with the Prime
Minister. My question is a philosophical one. I voted for you during your election. There's an
American here named Frank Coe. When your country was still in the midst of war, during
your last election, he wrote an article proclaiming your election. I admired that article. But
now he opposes your visit.
Nixon: I think the Chairman's vote for me was like choosing the better of two bad options.
Mao: I prefer the right. People say you're right-wing, and that your Republican Party is rightwing.
Nixon: Yes.



Mao: That Prime Minister Heath was also right-wing.
Nixon: General de Gaulle [6] too.
Mao: De Gaulle is another matter. They also say that the Christian Democratic Party in West
Germany is right-wing. I like the right and am happy when they are in power.
Nixon: I think the important thing is that in the United States, at least for now, right-wingers
like me can do things that leftists can only talk about. (Mao Zedong nods)
Kissinger: Mr. President, I think those left-wingers are pro-Soviet. They don't encourage us to
move closer to the People's Republic and criticize you for doing so.
Mao: That's right. Some people are against you. A faction in our country also opposes our
interaction with you, and they ended up flying abroad. [7]
Zhou: Perhaps you know about this.
Mao: In the world, only the United States' reconnaissance is relatively accurate, followed by
Japan. As for the Soviet Union, they're digging up bodies there, but they say nothing.
Zhou: In Outer Mongolia.
Nixon: We recently faced the same problem during the India-Pakistan crisis. The American
left criticized me harshly for not siding with India. There are two reasons for this: one is that
they are pro-India, and the other is that they are pro-Soviet. I believe it's important to keep
an eye on the bigger picture. No country, no matter how powerful, can be allowed to annex
its neighbors. This cost me a political price—I don't regret it, because I did the right thing—
and history will prove that I was right.
Mao: Just a suggestion, just a suggestion. Would you mind issuing fewer briefings? (The
President points to Dr. Kissinger and Zhou and laughs) Would you mind sharing what we've
discussed, the philosophy we've discussed, with others?
Nixon: The Chairman can rest assured that nothing we discuss, or anything I discuss with the
Premier, will be leaked. This is the only way to conduct top-level talks.
Mao: That's good.
Nixon: If possible, I hope to discuss with the Premier, and later with the Chairman, not only
the issues at hand: the Taiwan issue, the Vietnam issue, and the Korean issue...
Mao: These issues are not of interest to me; they are what he (referring to Premier Zhou)
discussed with you. I think your topic is better—philosophical issues.
Nixon: The majority of countries in the world approve of my visit. The Soviet Union
disapproves; Japan is skeptical and has already expressed its doubts; India disapproves.
Therefore, we must study the reasons for this and determine our policy based on how we



should develop globally, rather than focusing on the issues at hand. Of course, issues like
Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan should also be discussed.
Mao: Yes, I approve.
Nixon: For example, we must ask ourselves why the Soviet Union has deployed more troops
on your borders than on the borders of Western Europe. What is the future of Japan? We
disagree on this. Is it better for Japan to be neutral and defenseless, or for it to have some
relationship with the United States for a period of time? What I'm talking about here is
philosophical. The problem is that in the field of international relations, there are no good
choices. One thing is certain: we cannot leave a vacuum, because it will be filled. For
example, the Prime Minister pointed out that he feels the United States reaching out, and
the Soviet Union reaching out. So the question is, is the danger facing the People's Republic
of China from American aggression or from Soviet aggression? This is a difficult question, but
we must discuss it.
Chairman Mao: The problem of American aggression, or Chinese aggression, is relatively
minor, or rather, not a major issue. There's no question of war between our two countries.
You want to withdraw some troops home, but our troops won't go abroad. Therefore, the
situation between our two countries is very strange. For the past twenty-two years, we've
been unable to reach an agreement. It's been less than ten months since we started playing
table tennis [8]. If we count from the time you proposed it in Warsaw, it's been less than two
years. We also have bureaucracy in our administration. For example, when you wanted to
promote personnel exchanges and trade, we refused, insisting that if we couldn't solve a
major problem, we wouldn't do anything about the minor issues. I myself insisted the same
way. Later, I saw that you were right, and we started playing table tennis. The Prime Minister
said this also happened after President Nixon took office.
The former president of Pakistan introduced President Nixon to us. At the time, our
ambassador to Pakistan disagreed with our interaction with you. He said he wanted to
compare whether President Johnson [9] or Nixon was superior. But Yahya [10] said the two
men were incomparable. He said one was like a gangster—referring to President Johnson. I
don't know where he got that impression. We didn't like him much either. From Truman [11]
to Johnson, we weren't particularly happy either.
There were eight years of the Republican Party [12] in between, and at that time, you didn't
figure it out either.
Zhou: Mainly the policies of John Foster Dulles [13].
Mao: He (referring to Zhou Enlai) and Dr. Kissinger had discussed this before.



Nixon: But they (addressing Zhou Enlai and Dr. Kissinger) shook hands1. (Zhou Enlai laughs)
Mao: Do you have anything to say, Doctor?
Kissinger: Mr. Chairman, the world situation had also changed dramatically during that
period. We learned a lot. We used to think that all socialist and communist countries were
the same. It was not until the President came to power that we understood the different
nature of the Chinese revolution and the revolutionary paths taken by other socialist
countries.
Nixon: Mr. Chairman, I know that for many years my position on the People's Republic was
completely different from that of the Chairman and the Premier. We are coming together
now because we recognize a new world situation. We recognize that what matters is not a
country's domestic policies and its philosophy, but its policies toward the rest of the world
and toward us. That is why (and I think I can be honest about this) we have differences. The
Premier and Dr. Kissinger have discussed these differences.
Mao: That's right.
Nixon: I would also like to say that when we look at the two major powers, the United States
and China, we know that China does not threaten the territory of the United States.
Mao: We do not threaten Japan or South Korea [14].
Zhou: We do not threaten any country.
Nixon: We do not threaten anyone. I believe you also understand that the United States has
no territorial claims against China. We know that China does not want to dominate the
United States, and we believe you also understand that the United States does not want to
dominate China. At the same time, I believe, though you may not believe it, that the United
States and China are both great countries, and neither of them wants to dominate the
world. Precisely because our two countries share the same attitude on these major issues,
we do not pose a threat to each other. Therefore, although we have differences, we can find
common ground to establish a world structure within which we can all develop safely and
pursue our own paths. This cannot be said of other countries in the world.
Mao: Do you have anything else to do this afternoon? What time is it now?
Zhou: The plenary meeting starts at 4:30, and it's now 3:45.
Mao: That's about it, right?
Nixon: Yes. I want to conclude by saying, Mr. Chairman, we know you and the Premier took a
great risk in inviting us here. This was a very difficult decision for us, too. However, I've read

1 Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, at a meeting in Geneva in 1954, deliberately snubbed Zhou Enlai,
refusing to shake his hand. He said that he and Zhou would only meet in a car crash.



some of the Chairman's speeches and know that he is someone who sees opportunities
when they arise, and I also know that you must "seize the hour, seize the day."
Mao: (Pointing to Dr. Kissinger) It's he who "seizes the hour, seizes the day."
Nixon: Personally, neither you nor the Premier know me well, so you shouldn't trust me. But
you'll find that I never say what I can't do, but I do more than I say. It's on this basis that I
want to have a frank exchange of views with the Chairman and the Premier.
Mao: I suppose I'm more often firing off big guns than anything else. It's nothing more than
“the whole world should unite and defeat imperialism, revisionism, and all reactionaries and
establish socialism.”
Nixon: (Smiling) It's people like me, and there are also bandits.
Mao: Perhaps, personally, you aren't among those targeted for attack or overthrow. Perhaps
he (referring to Kissinger) isn't either. If we were all overthrown, we'd have no friends.
Nixon: (Laughing) There wouldn't be any targets.
Nixon: We are all familiar with the Chairman's life. You came from a poor family, and now
you've reached the pinnacle of the world's most populous country, a great nation. My
background is less well known. I also came from a poor family, and now I've reached the
pinnacle of a great nation. I feel that history has brought us together. The problem is that
our philosophies are different, but we are both down-to-earth and come from the people.
We can achieve a breakthrough. This breakthrough will benefit not only China and the
United States, but also the entire world in the years to come. That's why I'm here.
Mao: Your book "Six Crises"[15]  is well written.
Nixon: (To Kissinger) He (referring to Mao Zedong) has read too many books.
Mao: Too few. I don't know much about the United States. I'd like you to send some
teachers, mainly history and geography teachers.
Nixon: Great, that's great.
Mao: That's why I told the journalist Edgar Snow, who passed away a few days ago, that it's
okay if we can negotiate, or it's okay if we can't. Why keep things so stagnant? Must we have
a deal?
Nixon: His death is very sad.
Mao: People will talk. If we didn't succeed once, it was simply because we took the wrong
path. But if we succeeded the second time, what would you do? (Both parties stand up)
Nixon: (Shaking Mao Zedong's hand) Together we can change the world.
Mao: I won't see you off.





[1] From February 21 to 28, 1972, then-US President Nixon paid a week-long visit to China,
breaking the long-standing Cold War confrontation between China and the United States
and becoming one of the most profound events influencing the international relations of the
20th century. During this period, Mao Zedong had a secret meeting with Nixon. The above is
a record of the meeting.
[2] The "philosophy" here is actually a synonym for "strategy."
[3] Kissinger, then US Assistant for National Security Affairs. He was born in Germany and
later immigrated to the United States.
[4] Refers to Chiang Kai-shek’s speech at the opening ceremony of the fifth session of the
National Assembly on February 20.
[5] The "first visit" refers to Kissinger's secret visit to China from July 9 to 11, 1971. Zhou
Enlai and Kissinger agreed on an announcement that "President Nixon would visit China at
an appropriate time before May 1972," which was simultaneously issued on July 15 by both
sides in their respective ways.
[6] General DeGaulle, former President of the French Fifth Republic, died on November 9,
1970.
[7] On the night of September 13, 1971, Lin Biao and his family fled to the Soviet Union by
plane, which eventually crashed in Wulankhan, Mongolia. This is known in history as the
"September 13 Incident."
[8] Playing table tennis refers to the event in 1971 when China invited the American table
tennis team to visit China, also known as “Ping Pong Diplomacy”.
[9] Johnson: On November 22, 1963, US President Kennedy was assassinated. Johnson, who
was then Vice President, became President and was officially elected President of the United
States in 1965, serving until 1969.
[10] Yahya, that is, Yahya Khan, the former President of Pakistan. He used his good relations
with both China and the United States to secretly convey messages between China and the
United States, established the famous “Yahya Khan Channel II” and successfully arranged for
Kissinger to visit China secretly.
[11] Truman. In 1945, US President Roosevelt died during his term. Truman, who was then
Vice President, became President and was officially elected President of the United States in
1948. His term lasted until 1953. Truman took a hostile attitude towards New China. On June
25, 1910, the Korean War broke out. On June 27, Truman ordered the Seventh Fleet to enter
the Taiwan Strait to prevent China from liberating Taiwan and declared that Taiwan's status



was undetermined. Soon after, the United States established a military base in Taiwan. In
December 1954, the United States and Chiang Kai-shek signed the "Mutual Defense Treaty".
[12] From 1953 to 1961, the United States was ruled by the Republican Party, with Eisenhower
as President and Nixon as Vice President.
[13] Dulles, a Republican, served as U.S. Secretary of State from 1953 to 1959. In his
international activities, he advocated for the Cold War, promoting strategies such as "the brink
of war," "massive nuclear retaliation," and "peaceful evolution" against socialist countries. In
1950, he participated in planning the U.S. government's use of the Korean War to invade and
occupy the Chinese territory of Taiwan. In 1954, he orchestrated the U.S.-Taiwan Mutual
Defense Treaty between the U.S. and Taiwan authorities, attempting to legitimize the
occupation of Taiwan and use Taiwan as a long-term U.S. military base. He consistently
targeted socialist countries and national liberation movements, steadfastly refused to
recognize China, illegally excluded China's legitimate status in the United Nations, imposed a
blockade and embargo on China, and blatantly engaged in a conspiracy to create a "two
Chinas" situation.
[14] South Korea, now the Republic of Korea, abbreviated as South Korea.
[15] In 1962, Nixon wrote a book called "Six Crises," which recounted his life experiences,
sharing his own strengths and weaknesses, and his own joys and sorrows.

















Presented to President Nixon (poem)
A four character per line poem
(1972)
Old man sitting on a stool [1]
Chang'e flying to the moon [2]
Watching flowers from horseback2. [3]

[1] Sitting on a stool means sitting and waiting. This sentence is a metaphor for the past of
Sino-US relations. For many years, Mao Zedong and other older leaders have been seeking
to break the deadlock in Sino-US relations, but have not received a response from the
United States. These leaders are all old. Mao Zedong and other Chinese leaders have been
waiting day after day and year after year for the United States to change its attitude.
[2] This sentence is a metaphor for the changes in the US-China relationship. Nixon once
called Kissinger's secret visit to China "Operation Apollo". When Nixon said goodbye to
congressional leaders before leaving for China, he quoted the inscription on the moon
landing monument: "We are here to seek peace for all mankind." Chang'e flew to the moon
to break free from the shackles. This sentence was Mao Zedong's humorous praise for Nixon
for finally breaking through the resistance.
[3] This sentence summarizes the current situation and future of Sino-US relations. Sino-US
relations are a relationship that has differences and contradictions, but must continue to
develop. Kissinger's secret visit to China via Pakistan is more dramatic than the "flying
around" blind date comedy arranged by the matchmaker. From this metaphor, we can
further understand that only by facing reality, starting from the overall situation of

2 The Chinese footnote in the text needs further explanation. 走马观花 (zǒu mǎ guān huā) literally means to
gaze at flowers while on horseback. It is used to describe a fleeting glance or cursory observation in passing.
This idiom is actually based on the story of a lame man named Guì-liáng who was looking for a wife. He asked
his friend, Huá-hàn to be a matchmaker and introduce him to a woman of grace and beauty. Huá-hàn
happened to know a beautiful girl named Yè-qīng, who was also looking for her Mr. Right. The only problem
was that she had a crooked nose. "They would be a match made in heaven," Huá-hàn thought. "I found the
perfect girl for you!" Huá-hàn excitedly told Guì-liáng. "Remember to put on your best suit and wait patiently
on horseback by the river tomorrow." Then Huá-hàn ran and asked Yè-qīng to hold a flower in her hand and
pretend to smell at it by the river tomorrow. The next day, Guì-liáng rode his horse by the river and saw the
most beautiful girl he had ever seen standing by the riverside enjoying the aroma of the flower in the hand. At
the same time, Yè-qīng raised her head slightly and saw this handsome man on his horse - her prince charming.
The two fell in love immediately and decided to get marry. On their wedding night, Guì-liáng slowly lifted the
bridal veil with excitement and fell to see the ugly nose of his bride. Yè-qīng retorted, "You're a cripple!" The
two remembered the scene of their first encounter where they 走马观花 and laughed, "We are so made for
each other!"



international relations, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and not
interfering in other countries' internal affairs, can this relationship continue to develop.