Rapproachment
waiguoren
August 14, 2012 at 10:27 AM posted in General DiscussionI am going to do something taboo here and discuss politics. I'm justifying it based on the fact that I have a little presentation to give at Uni next next week, and your thoughts/comments are much appreciated (this is a 'contextual' Chinese unit called Modern China. Next semester I hope to start Chinese 1A :)
My presentation will centre aound the question:
"What factors brought about US/China rapproachment in February 1972"
I remember watching a documentary on this very issue once (years ago), but have seem to forgotton all of it. There has also been an interesting documentary called China: Triumph and Turmoil, hosted by Niall Ferguson, showing on SBS here in Australia which is also very interesting, should you be able to get your hands on it.
So anyway, Cpod is my first point of call in the research process, as I know there are some very knowledgeable Siniologists on here...feel free to give your thoughts/comments/opinions on the matter!
Cheers,
Waiguoren
waiguoren
August 15, 2012 at 01:20 PM
Yes, seems Kissenger masterminded the whole thing. And the crux of it was that Nixon's visit to China was an attempt to undermine the USSR and essentially foil the Cold War, by 'normalising' relations with China. Within 3 months of Nixon's visit Nixon and Breschev had signed 2 nuclear arms control pacts.
哎哟，essentially that's it I think. I hate being an Arts student...so many things to explore, could go on and on....and it seems to raise more questions than answers. I'm actually looking forward to studying 'Chinese 1A' in a couple of months...
podster
August 15, 2012 at 03:33 AM
I would think Kissinger's writing would be good source material. (But haven't read it myself.) I believe he published a big fat book about China just over a year ago.
bodawei
August 14, 2012 at 05:00 PM
wikipedia does work in China, waiguoren. I guess there may be the occasional topic that gets donged but I have never found it blocked. Oh, and good luck with the project. I remember I did a course once on modern Chinese history ... sounds similar.
bababardwan
August 14, 2012 at 12:43 PM
oh, gotcha. Glad I posted the link then. He's more entertaining to listen to than reading wikipedia IMHO....starting point anyway, but glad to hear you're on a roll. :)
waiguoren
August 14, 2012 at 11:29 AM
哦，maybe there's been a misunderstanding. 我现在在澳大利亚。
Also, I thought you were referring to a C-pod podcast (!).
I've just checked the link you posted and it seems to work fine.
谢谢
I just had a bit of trouble 'starting' my research...I'm on a bit of a roll now...
bababardwan
August 14, 2012 at 11:18 AM
No worries mate. I knew you had been in China, but I didn't know you still were. So now I'm wondering if you can get those podcasts via itunes there. So I've found his website, and the two podcasts I mentioned are near the bottom of this page:
http://chinahistorypodcast.com/page/5/
..you just need to scroll down and then you can play them directly from the site. Good luck mate:
waiguoren
August 14, 2012 at 11:04 AM
Thanks, babardwan. That should be plenty. Too much information can be a dangerous thing...
bababardwan
August 14, 2012 at 10:56 AM
Ok， found it. I'm not sure actually if this is what you're looking for but it's "Nixon's visit to China" parts 1 and 2
It was in 1972 at least and I found it an interesting podcast but it's been sometime since I listened to it. Laszlo Montgomery does a good job and I find interesting to listen to. I have it through itunes [its free] but from memory it was on a website also. I can look for that if you have trouble, just let me know. I hope it helps and is what you were looking for. If not I think there was some discussion on his website, though probably not as lively as here...might be worth a look though
waiguoren
August 14, 2012 at 10:53 AM
好的。I'm on wikipedia now (may not be available in China) which explains the American perspective quite well...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Nixon_visit_to_China
bababardwan
August 15, 2012 at 09:42 PMwaiguoren,
you might find this thread interesting:
http://chinesepod.com/community/conversations/post/12285
..where poddies discussed kissingers book, etc
...hehe, looks like I recommended Laszlo's podcast there as well....