Jimmy Carter switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, a move that remains a point of tension, though it moved China away from the Soviet Union.

On a bright January morning in 1979, then US president Jimmy Carter greeted a historic guest in Washington: Deng Xiaoping, the man who unlocked China's economy. The first leader of Communist China to visit the United States,

Carter's most significant achievement was his announcement on Dec 15, 1978, that the US and the People's Republic of China had agreed to establish diplomatic ties on Jan 1, 1979. He emphasized that the US recognized the government of the PRC as the sole legal government of China.

Early in his presidency, in May 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter gave a commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame that outlined a new approach to America’s role in the world: Carter said human rights should be a “fundamental tenet of our foreign policy.

U.S. relations is poised to influence Trump’s China policy across economic, military, and diplomatic dimensions.

“As U.S. president Jimmy Carter facilitated and oversaw the establishment of diplomatic ties with China and made vital contributions to promoting the development of Sino-US relations and friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning at a regular media briefing Monday.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who died Sunday at the age of 100, is remembered in China for bringing an end to decades of hostility and establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing – at ...