This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: Red China: From YKTTW
1972 is a terrible date to mark the change in China. Nixon did go to China in 1972, but didn't automatically give them diplomatic recognition. They didn't get that until 1979. In addition, China was still in the grip of the Cultural Revolution in 1972. The worst may have passed, but they weren't rich or open. That didn't happen until after 1979, when Deng Xiaoping decided to permit private plots in the agricultural collectives and began to experiment with free trade in certain economic zones.
