China-US relations 1949-2013

China-USA relations have an important place in the history of both countries. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China as a communist country in 1949, the two countries faced each other in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. After the death of Stalin in 1953, when Khrushchev took office, this time relations between China and the Soviet Union began to diverge. On the other hand, in this divergence period, China-USA relations started to normalize. Normalization, which reached its peak with President Nixon's visit to China in 1972, continued with the opening of mutual diplomatic representations in 1979. China-USA relations have lived their golden years. However, the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square grew enormous in 1989 and China used force to suppress the events at the cost of thousands of deaths. After the Tiananmen events, China's relations with all Western countries and the USA deteriorated. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the main priority of the USA became the fight against terrorism, and relations between the two countries were seen to be closer. In these years when the economic rise of the People's Republic of China drew attention, it was discussed in the West and especially in the USA public opinion whether China would rival the US hegemony or not. Keywords: China, USA, Diplomacy, Politics, War, Taiwan