US President Barack Obama is in China, seeking to draw
the two big powers closer. Here is a timeline of US-Chinese
relations since 1949:
October 1949 - People's Republic of China founded by the Chinese
Communist Party. The United States keeps diplomatic ties with
defeated Nationalist forces who fled to Taiwan, claiming their
Republic of China as the sole legitimate
government.
1950 - Korean War breaks out with the United States and China
sending forces to support rival sides in fighting that lasts until
1953.
1958 - China shells islands between the mainland and Taiwan, held
by Nationalist forces, escalating tensions with the United States,
which maintains forces on Taiwan.
1960s - United States pursues deepening military involvement in
Vietnam, while China more quietly backs Vietnamese Communist forces
fighting the U.S.-backed government in the south.
1969-1970 - Secretive and long-moribund back-channel contacts
between China and the United States resume as President Richard
Nixon and Mao Zedong explore ways to improve relations.
April 1971 - "Ping-pong diplomacy" when China invites US table
tennis players to visit, generating a burst of goodwill.
1971 - Nixon's national security advisor, Henry Kissinger, visits
China twice, secretly in July and openly in October.
February 1972 - President Richard Nixon visits China, meets ailing
Chairman Mao and Premier Zhou Enlai and both sides set out
principles for relations between the two nations.
January 1979 - China and the United States establish diplomatic
relations after the United States breaks diplomatic ties with
Taiwan.
January-February 1979 - Deng Xiaoping, the Communist Party veteran
guiding China's steps towards economic reform, visits the United
States. Deng is struck by the economic and technological gap
between his country and America.
April 1979 - The United States enacts the Taiwan Relations Act,
which spells out US obligations to help Taiwan defend itself
against possible military threats from China.
June 1989 - Ties dive after Deng uses troops to suppress
pro-democracy protesters in Beijing. President George HW Bush later
authorises sanctions but seeks to maintain communication and limit
fallout.
June 1995 - President Bill Clinton allows Taiwan's President Lee
Teng-hui to visit United States, drawing harsh denunciations from
China.
1995-1996 - China shows its anger with Lee's visit by holding
missile tests near Taiwan. In 1996, China resumes the missile tests
before Taiwan's presidential election, unsuccessfully seeking to
deter voters from backing Lee. Washington sends aircraft carriers
and other naval ships to the area.
May 1999 - US planes in NATO's offensive against Yugoslavia bomb
the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three Chinese nationals,
unleashing protests outside the US embassy in Beijing. China says
the bombing was intentional. The United States says it was a
mistake.
May 2000 - United States grants China "Permanent Normal Trade
Relations" (PNTR) status, opening the way for China to join the
World Trade Organisation in 2001.
April 2001 - A US surveillance plane collides in mid-air with a
Chinese air force plane near the southern Chinese island of Hainan,
leading the Chinese plane to crash into the sea and forcing the US
aircraft to land on Hainan. An 11-day standoff over China's holding
of the plane and 24 crew members raises tensions with the new
administration of President George Bush.
September 2001 - China voices support for the United States after
the September 11 attacks, opening the way to improved ties with the
Bush administration.
August 2003 - Beijing hosts the first round of six-party talks
seeking to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programme. The talks
open a new forum for cooperation between China and the United
States, which participates in the talks.
September 2008 - China passes Japan as the biggest holder of US
government debt, and the deepening global financial crisis
magnifies the importance of Chinese economic ties for President
Barack Obama, who takes office in January 2009.
