Seven months after U.S. President Richard Nixon’s visit to China and the resulting issuance of the Shanghai Communiqué in February 1972, Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka arrived in Beijing on September 25. Like Nixon, Tanaka was welcomed at the airport by Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.
“Shaking hands, they shook up and down for five or six times and then paused for short while before shaking hands again as if to confirm something.” This ice-breaking moment was captured by Japanese newspaper the Asahi Shimbun.
During the visit, China and Japan reached agreements on a host of matters of interest to both sides. The subsequent signing of the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement on September 29,
