An episode of Nixon’s 50-year visit to China | Blog Post

Today is the 50th anniversary of the ice breaking between China and the United States. However, the mainland media did not make any special commemorative reports. China has made progress in recent years, and the United States is not that unattainable. Let’s start with the arrival of the US “Air Force One” in Beijing. At this time, China did not even have satellite broadcasting technology and equipment.

On February 21, 1972, at the invitation of Premier Zhou Enlai, US President Richard Nixon made his historic first visit to China, during which he met with the leader Mao Zedong, ending years of isolation and hostility between the two countries. In order to allow the American citizens on the other side to witness this historical moment on live TV, the United States made a request that is quite embarrassing to China. The mainland does not even have popular TV, and the communication technology is even more unable to meet the real-time broadcast of the whole journey across the ocean.

The difficulty for China is that there are no communication satellites. The United States “friendly” proposed a solution. The United States will provide China with American satellites, and the United States will also help China build a broadcast station for free. The plan proposed by the United States is very simple: “The United States will provide the cost and technical personnel to build a ground satellite station in Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.” Very good, China can have satellites available without spending money. Why does the US provide these expensive devices for free? Premier Zhou Enlai understood what Nixon and Kissinger had in mind.

After careful consideration, Premier Zhou made an important decision: “Satellite broadcasting rights are a matter of national sovereignty, and there is no room for negotiation. You must build your own satellite broadcasting room, buy satellite broadcasting equipment, and lease it to the United States. As for rent, you can It’s regarding the same as the satellite usage fee.” China insists on the issue of sovereignty, and has to pay $1 million to lease satellites to the United States, and spend $100,000 to purchase a complete set of satellite ground broadcasting equipment.

The point is that the ownership of the U.S. satellites belongs to the Chinese government during the period of Chinese lease. If American personnel, including journalists, want to use satellite communications and other services, they should apply to the Chinese government in advance. With the approval of the Chinese government, the user must pay the usage fee. However, we did not take the opportunity to make money from others. Premier Zhou explained to the relevant departments. The principle of handling is as follows: : “Don’t take advantage and don’t lose money. Satellite lines and ordinary lines charge the same amount of money, and the charges are regarding the same. You can’t overcharge, so as not to embarrass news organizations and reporters.” According to mainland reports, Nixon’s visit to China was over. Renting satellites and buying equipment cost a lot of money, but renting them to foreign journalists can generate income. Although the expenses are more than the income, China has won a lot of praise.” The most shrewd thing is that China has since introduced Satellite technology and equipment, and a group of talents have also been trained, which will be of great help to China’s future television broadcasting career.

50 years later, the United States told China that 5G communication technology has fallen behind. What is this all regarding? As for how did China develop communication technology from zero, it only took half a century to surpass that of the United States, which generously assisted us? Huawei Ren Zhengfei pointed out the mistakes the United States made during the peak of the nationwide ban by the United States two years ago. Originally, the United States was in the lead in communication technology, but it was caught up by Huawei because of a wrong step. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Ren Zhengfei said: “The United States has a problem of misjudgment in 5G communication.” The United States is not interested in 5G but betting on the most advanced 6G, thinking that the 5G era will not come so soon, and there is enough time to improve this Technology, so I chose the immature “millimeter wave”. I didn’t expect that Huawei would break through the research and development of 5G technology and push the 5G era forward, so the United States became unable to take care of both ends.

Ren Zhengfei talks regarding the reasons why the United States is lagging behind in 5G. (Xinhuanet)

Of course, what is even more wrong is that the United States has imposed bans and messed up the world, but the situation is still irreversible. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan publicly stated in July last year: “It was thought that the first wave of the digital revolution would allow new technologies to advance democracy and human rights, but the second wave of technology has seen the digital revolution of a dictatorship. Counter-revolution. The question now is whether we can drive the wave of the third digital revolution, in which a democratic tech ecosystem is created.”

Sullivan predicts that the Biden administration will continue to suppress China’s technological development. This scene temporarily adds a “democracy” title. Is it effective? The days of China renting satellites are over. It is embarrassing that the United States does not talk regarding technology and democracy now.