Road to Shanghai Communique relived 50 years on

Due to Mao's health, the meeting was expected to be for 15 to 20 minutes, but it lasted more than an hour, Tang said.

"The conversation itself was certainly not embroiled in bickering over minor issues, but was rather one between leaders of two great countries, who had vision and took the long view, with the big picture in mind," Tang said. "Although each side knew that they had vast differences and a history of animosity, they had come together for an earnest exchange of views on the strategic level so as to seek common ground and a better future."

On the first day of Nixon's visit, Zhou hosted a welcoming banquet for him at the Great Hall of the People. In his toast, Zhou said the door to China-US friendly exchanges had finally been opened, but also acknowledged "fundamental" and "great "differences in terms of social systems and governments of the two countries.

"However, these differences should not hinder China and the US from establishing normal state relations," he said. "China and the United States need to be clear about their differences and find common ground so as to reach a new starting point in bilateral ties."

Nixon responded by saying it was their common interests that transcended the differences between the US and China that brought them together. "As we discuss our differences, neither of us will compromise our principles. But while we cannot close the gulf between us, we can try to bridge it so that we may be able to talk across it," he said.

Speaking about how Nixon and Kissinger impressed her, Tang said they struck her as being men of vision and courage. "They stated clearly on more than one occasion that they came to China out of the interest of the United States. They also understood that for that interest there was need for a sustainable relationship with China."

She spoke highly of the significance of the Shanghai Communique, the most important result of Nixon's trip to China, describing it as a milestone in the history of Sino-US relations that laid the groundwork for the development of these relations over the years.

"Even after half a century, it still stands out as a constant reminder of what the basic foundation of these relations is, and how it is possible to make the seemingly impossible become possible," Tang said. "History will have its ups and downs, but eventually it always goes forward. We just have to work for the better, because that's in the interest of us all."