Former Enemy to Tacit Ally

TRIANGULAR POLITICS, JUNE I972 TO FEBRUARY I973 FORMER ENEMY TO TACIT ALLY  

There were two main elements to Kissinger s image of the PRC as Tacit Ally. First, Beijing explicitly recognized the Soviet Union as a common adversary and shared Washington s strategic assessment of the 

Kissinger to RN, My Trip to China, 2 March 1973, Box 6, PPF, NPM, pp. 2-3 (italics in original). I am grateful to William Butr of the National Security Archive for sharing the unsanitized version of this document, which he obtained through an FOIA request. 

Additionally, Kissinger and Mao and Zhou further developed a security dialogue, much like that between close allies - they had long discussions about the state of American alliances in Europe and Asia, and about U.S. containment strategy in South Asia and the Middle East. Mao urged that 

5 Mao-Kissinger memcon, 17 February 1973, in Burr, Kissinger Transcripts p. 88. 

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