Originally published in the Guardian on 21 February 1972
Nearly 90 American correspondents arrived here this afternoon to prepare for President Nixon's arrival at 11 40 am tomorrow (local time) and found Chinese press officers somewhat vague about the schedule for this trail-blazing "pilgrimage for peace."
No special welcoming signs were yet apparent, and the weather over the eastern industrial area of the city, where Peking airport is situated, was cloudy and smoky. The temperature this afternoon was 3C. – slightly above average for February here.
Premier Chou En-lai worked late on details of the visit tonight at the Great Hall of the People. Later his car, accompanied by a security vehicle, left for a section of the city in which the Chinese leaders live.
The Chinese are well aware of the impending visit of the President and his wife, Pat, in spite of an almost complete lack of press coverage.
There is no question of a spontaneous mass welcome in the streets. If the leadership so decides, however, one can be arranged in a matter of hours.
In the cold, wind-swept and nearly deserted Tienanmen Square and the main avenue of Eternal Peace tonight it did not look as if one was planned.
There is likely to be a welcome at the airport by youths and girls in national costume, but foreign diplomats will not be there. Diplomatic sources say this reflects the bilateral nature of the talks Mr Nixon will have here, and the fact that China and the United States have no diplomatic relations.
Prominent anti-American slogans in Tienanmen Square have still not been taken down. The slogans attack America's involvement in Indo-China and support of Zionism, as well as American and Soviet "aggression, control, interference, and bullying".
Security is not nearly as tight as it would be in most of the countries Mr Nixon has visited, but detachments of People's Liberation Army men are guarding bridges and other strategic points on the route from the airport to the Jade Pool Abyss Park Guest House, where the President will stay.
Reports that Le Duc Tho, a member of the North Vietnamese Politburo, is in Peking to see President Nixon have not been confirmed, but some sources believe Chou En-lai would be willing to arrange a meeting between the two.
[President Nixon's visit to China was the first visit of an American president to the People's Republic of China.]
Journalists here for the President's visit are working in a special press sector in the Palace of Nationalities – normally used for meetings of China's minority peoples.
From the archive, 21 February 1972: Anti-American slogans greet Nixon in Peking | From the Guardian | The Guardian
Much has changed in the last 4 decades...
Nearly 90 American correspondents arrived here this afternoon to prepare for President Nixon's arrival at 11 40 am tomorrow (local time) and found Chinese press officers somewhat vague about the schedule for this trail-blazing "pilgrimage for peace."
No special welcoming signs were yet apparent, and the weather over the eastern industrial area of the city, where Peking airport is situated, was cloudy and smoky. The temperature this afternoon was 3C. – slightly above average for February here.
Premier Chou En-lai worked late on details of the visit tonight at the Great Hall of the People. Later his car, accompanied by a security vehicle, left for a section of the city in which the Chinese leaders live.
The Chinese are well aware of the impending visit of the President and his wife, Pat, in spite of an almost complete lack of press coverage.
There is no question of a spontaneous mass welcome in the streets. If the leadership so decides, however, one can be arranged in a matter of hours.
In the cold, wind-swept and nearly deserted Tienanmen Square and the main avenue of Eternal Peace tonight it did not look as if one was planned.
There is likely to be a welcome at the airport by youths and girls in national costume, but foreign diplomats will not be there. Diplomatic sources say this reflects the bilateral nature of the talks Mr Nixon will have here, and the fact that China and the United States have no diplomatic relations.
Prominent anti-American slogans in Tienanmen Square have still not been taken down. The slogans attack America's involvement in Indo-China and support of Zionism, as well as American and Soviet "aggression, control, interference, and bullying".
Security is not nearly as tight as it would be in most of the countries Mr Nixon has visited, but detachments of People's Liberation Army men are guarding bridges and other strategic points on the route from the airport to the Jade Pool Abyss Park Guest House, where the President will stay.
Reports that Le Duc Tho, a member of the North Vietnamese Politburo, is in Peking to see President Nixon have not been confirmed, but some sources believe Chou En-lai would be willing to arrange a meeting between the two.
[President Nixon's visit to China was the first visit of an American president to the People's Republic of China.]
Journalists here for the President's visit are working in a special press sector in the Palace of Nationalities – normally used for meetings of China's minority peoples.
From the archive, 21 February 1972: Anti-American slogans greet Nixon in Peking | From the Guardian | The Guardian
Much has changed in the last 4 decades...
