Lessons can still be learned from Nixon's historic trip 45 years ago

Tuesday marked the 45th anniversary of the historic trip to China by US president Richard Nixon, a trip that ended more than two decades of hostilities between the two nations and a trip that Nixon called "a week that changed the world".

As people keep speculating on how the China-US relationship might evolve under the administration of President Donald Trump, it might be useful to reflect on the wisdom, courage and vision Nixon showed back then.

In announcing his trip on national TV on July 15, 1971, Nixon said there could be no stable and enduring peace without the participation of the People's Republic of China and its 750 million people (now 1.3 billion), and that was why he had undertaken initiatives to open the door for more normal relations between the two countries.