50 years after Nixon, can US-China ties be renewed post-pandemic?

A HALF century from Richard Nixon's early February 1972 trip to China, bilateral relations are potentially at the biggest tipping point since that landmark moment.

Nixon's visit was a signature important strategic and diplomatic overture that marked the highlight of his administration's resumption of harmonious relations with China after years of diplomatic isolation following the assumption of power by Communists. The normalisation of ties culminated in 1979, when Washington established full diplomatic relations with Beijing.

Five decades on, bilateral relations have since the Trump presidency been at their lowest ebb for decades. For all of Joe Biden's indications that he would dial down some of his predecessor Donald Trump's overt hostility to China, the current president has yet to reverse any of those policies. Indeed, he has doubled down on numerous of them, including with the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics in response to human rights abuses in Xinjiang.