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Nixon's China visit, 50 years on: Setting the stage for China's engagement of Asean
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Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972 was a game-changer, leading US allies and other nations in the region to open up to the People's Republic of China.
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BEIJING - When Singapore's then-foreign minister S. Rajaratnam led the Republic's first diplomatic mission to China in 1975, there was one point that his Chinese hosts stressed over and over again.
"During the visit, (the Chinese) often said that they did not think that Singapore was in any way a 'third China'. (They said) that was a lie and should not be repeated by people around the world," recalled veteran journalist Peter Lim, one of the few reporters who accompanied Mr Rajaratnam on that trip.
