The phrase "Nixon goes to China", "Nixon to China", or "Nixon in China" is an historical reference to United States President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to the People's Republic of China, where he met with Chairman Mao Zedong. The metaphor is often expressed as the observation "Only Nixon could go to China" or "It took Nixon to go to China". As a political metaphor, it refers to the ability of a politician with an unassailable reputation among their supporters for representing and defending their values to take actions that would draw their criticism and even opposition if taken by someone without those credentials. Although the example is that of a hardliner taking steps toward peace with a traditional enemy, and this is the most common application of the metaphor, it could also be applied to a reputedly cautious diplomat defying expectations by taking military action, or a political leader reforming aspects of the political system of which they have been strong supporters.
Context
Nixon's visit to China was of particular significance because it marked the beginning of a process of thawing in Sino-American relations — the two countries had been estranged for many years, as the U.S. was ardently anti-Communist and refused to recognize its government, and China had viewed the United States as its top enemy. Nixon, having had an undisputed reputation of being a staunch anti-Communist, was largely immune to any criticism of being "soft on Communism" by figures on the right of American politics. The phrase originated prior to Nixon's actual visit to China. An early use of the phrase is found in a December 1971 U.S. News & World Report interview with then-United States Senate Democratic LeaderMike Mansfield, in a section summary lead that read "'Only a Nixon' Could Go to China". The actual quote from Mansfield was "Only a Republican, perhaps only a Nixon, could have made this break and gotten away with it."
Popular culture
A popular use of the expression came in the 1991 film , where "only Nixon could go to China" is quoted by Spock as "an old Vulcan proverb". In the context of the film, it is given as a reason why James T. Kirk, a character with a history of armed conflict with the Klingons and a personal enmity for them due to the death of his son, should escort their chancellor to Earth for peace negotiations with the Federation.
French President Charles de Gaulle's decision to end the Algerian War, withdraw from Algeria, and give Algeria its independence in 1962 has sometimes been describes as a Nixon-to-China moment due to the fact that de Gaulle's reputation and prestige as a French war hero in World War II helped win support for Algerian independence from most of the French public.
U.S. President Lyndon Johnson pushing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through the U.S. Congress. This is generally considered to be an act of political courage as Johnson expected, correctly, that pushing this and other civil rights legislation would damage him and his Democratic Party with white Southern voters.
In Canada, a notable aspect of the 1985 decision of the Ontario government to extend full funding to Catholic schools was that the ruling Progressive Conservatives had previously been regarded as articulating the viewpoint of rural Protestants, who were often hostile to Roman Catholicism, especially on issues related to education. In contrast to Nixon's China policy, however, this decision led to political damage for the Conservatives, who were defeated in the subsequent election, partly as a result of having alienated their Protestant base.
Jim Hoagland for the Eugene Register-Guard compared U.S. President George W. Bush's embrace of multilateralism on Iraq in late 2002 as a Nixon-to-China moment. Some people likewise considered George W. Bush's nuclear deals with North Korea in 2007 and with India in 2008 to be Nixon-to-China moments.
