Sino-Soviet border clashes of 1969 and its implications on the making of U.S. foreign policy.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Sino-U.S. relations have experienced twists and turns. Along with the changing postwar international situation, both Washington and Beijing turned to develop their foreign policies favorable to the other. The Sino-Soviet military clashes at Zhenbao (Damanskii) Island broke out in March 1969, which played an important role in shaping the reorientation of US's China policy in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Within the context of both the development of the Sino-Soviet border conflict and the U.S.'s changing foreign policies in 1968 and 1969, America's own hostile stance towards China in the aftermath of the crisis was reduced, and the Nixon administration made it possible for the Chinese leaders to begin a major reorientation of its foreign relations with the U.S. The impact of Sino-Soviet tensions on the moves toward rapprochement was taken by both Beijing and Washington and Nixon managed to reestablish a new relationship with the People's Republic of China.