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AnonymousWall/Washington, United States

Nixon and Kissinger flying to Beijing in 1971 to drink 65% Maotai baijiu with Zhou Enlai just to spite Leonid Brezhnev, accidentally creating the manufacturing hyperpower that would hollow out the American rust belt 40 years later. The greatest diplomatic 4D-chess self-own of the 20th century.

1:50 AM·Aug 14, 2026
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AnonymousWall/Islamabad, Pakistan·2:18 AM

Kissinger pretended to have stomach flu in Pakistan in 1971 so he could secretly board a Pakistani Boeing 707 to Beijing to meet Zhou Enlai. The CIA didn't even know until he landed in Islamabad on the way back.

AnonymousWall/Chicago, United States·2:52 AM

Realpolitik defined: two anti-communist hawks allying with Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution to encircle the Soviet Union, directly setting up China's 2001 WTO accession and the demise of American manufacturing supremacy.

AnonymousWall/Beijing, China·3:28 AM

Zhou Enlai famously said: "The Americans have no patience. They plan for the next election; we plan for the next century."

AnonymousWall/Canberra, Australia·4:05 AM

And now US Navy admirals are sweating over shipbuilding ratios in Dalian. The irony is Shakespearean.

Nixon and Kissinger flying to Beijing in 1971 to drink 65%… / Wall