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On February 21, 1972, then-US President Richard Nixon (right) shook hands with China’s top leader Mao Zedong in Beijing, marking a historic turning point in Sino-US relations.
Half a century ago, on February 21, Nixon visited China, an important step in the normalization of Sino-US diplomatic relations, marking a new stage in the bilateral relations between the two countries that have been isolated from each other for 25 years.
From February 21st to 28th, 1972, the then US President Richard Nixon visited Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai at the invitation of Zhou Enlai, the then Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China.
It was the first time in history that a US president visited the People’s Republic of China, which was still considered a hostile country at the time. He met Mao Zedong, chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, in Zhongnanhai while he was in Beijing.
On February 28, the Sino-US Shanghai Joint Communiqué was published, announcing the normalization of Sino-US relations.
Nixon called the visit “a week that changed the world,” and the moment he shook hands with Mao Zedong was seen as a sign of a turning point in history.
Here are a few historic handshakes with epoch-making significance.
Deng Xiaoping, Zhao Ziyang – Mrs Thatcher
In December 1984, then-British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher shook hands with Chinese President Deng Xiaoping in Beijing
image source,AFP
On December 19, 1984, Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher jointly signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
On December 19, 1984, the then Chinese President Deng Xiaoping and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher met at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The BBC reported that this was the most important handshake of Thatcher’s trip.
On the same day, she and the then Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
The statement jointly issued by the two countries promises that Hong Kong’s current social, economic system and way of life will remain unchanged for 50 years, and that Hong Kong will enjoy freedom and judicial independence different from those in mainland China under “one country, two systems”.
At that time, Deng Xiaoping, Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, and Li Xiannian, Chinese President, were present to witness the signing of the statement. The document was registered with the United Nations Secretariat in 1985 and came into effect.
In 1997, Hong Kong’s sovereignty was handed over to China.
Xi Jinping – Ma Ying-jeou
image source,AFP
On November 7, 2015, during the historic meeting between Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore, the handshake lasted nearly 2 minutes.
The “Xi-Ma meeting” is the most important summit meeting since the split between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in 1949.
The outcome of their talks included the opening of a hotline between Beijing and Taipei to improve cross-strait relations.
However, neither side made substantial concessions at this historic summit. Ma Ying-jeou paid a political price for this, losing to Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party in the 2016 general election.
Kim Jong Un-Moon Jae-in
image source,EPA/KOREA SUMMIT PRESS / POOL
The leaders of the DPRK and the ROK held a historic meeting in Panmunjom, signed a historic peace declaration, shook hands, and frozen the historical moment.
April 27, 2018 is undoubtedly an important historical moment in the history of the Korean Peninsula, where the North and the South have faced off for decades.
The leaders of the two Koreas finally signed a peace declaration in Panmunjom, promising to cease all hostilities, work together to advance complete denuclearization, and set up a permanent office in Kaesong.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in shook hands more than once during the day, but when the two exchanged the signed “Panmunjom Declaration”, a ceremonial handshake was held, and a historical node was frozen under the flash of the camera. This juncture is in stark contrast to the haze of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula and the tension in the region in the past few months.
A handshake equals a promise. Kim and Wen shook hands this time, emphasizing their commitment: there will be no more war on the peninsula.
Rabin-Arafat
image source,FILES/J. DAVID AKE/AFP/Getty Images
Arafat (right) and Rabin shake hands under the watchful eye of former US President Bill Clinton
On September 13, 1993, months of difficult, secretive negotiations between Israel and Palestine in Norway came to a successful conclusion.
The day that Palestine and Israel have been in conflict for decades opens up a road map to peace.
Israeli Prime Minister Rabin (pictured left, Yitzhak Rabin) and Palestinian leader Arafat (pictured right, Yasser Arafat) witnessed the signing of the Oslo Accords by representatives of the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on the South Lawn of the White House.
Under the camera’s lens, then-US President Bill Clinton opened his arms, and Rabin and Arafat shook hands. This is one of the few most historic moments in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Later, the peace effort failed, but the Oslo Accords granted the Occupied Palestinian Territory self-governing status and ended a six-year-long Palestinian armed resistance to Israeli occupation, the “uprising”. At least 1,200 Palestinians and 150 Israelis were killed in six years.
Two years after Arafat and Rabin’s historic handshake, Rabin was assassinated. The killers were Jewish extremists who opposed the peace process. In 2000, a second wave of uprisings broke out.
Obama-Castro
image source,Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The 2013 handshake between Obama (left) and Castro was iconic in the thawing of U.S.-Cuba relations
On December 10, 2013, a photo of then-US Barack Obama shaking hands with Cuban President Raúl Castro grabbed the world‘s media headlines.
At the time, they were in Johannesburg, South Africa, to commemorate Nelson Mandela.
The United States and Cuba have been long-time foes for decades, and it was the first time the leaders of the two sides greeted each other in public.
Within a few months, relations between the two countries thawed rapidly, with the resumption of diplomatic ties in July 2015, followed by a series of previously unimaginable steps to rebuild and consolidate bilateral relations that had been interrupted for more than half a century.
President Obama visited Cuba in 2016, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Cuba in 88 years.
That year, Washington eased a decades-old embargo on Cuba, and in November U.S. commercial airliners restocked with direct service to Havana.
Queen Elizabeth II – McGuinness
image source,PAUL FAITH/AFP/GettyImages
On June 27, 2012, the historic handshake between Queen Elizabeth II and former Irish Republican Army chief Martin McGuinness (pictured left, Martin McGuinness) was a milestone in the peace process in Northern Ireland.
The paramilitary group, the Irish Republican Army (IRA), has been violently trying for years to free Northern Ireland from British rule and join the Republic of Ireland.
McGuinness was later known as the “Peacemaker for Northern Ireland”. He was one of several representatives participating in the peace talks.
McGuinness served as Deputy Chief Minister of Northern Ireland when Queen Elizabeth II visited Northern Ireland in 2012.
His handshake with the Queen sent a signal of reconciliation that was unimaginable in the past: the bloodshed between the Irish Republican Army and the British Army has planted hatred in many people’s memories and emotions.