section_path: From confrontation to détente (1962–1979)/Sino-Soviet split and Nixon-China visit
section_name: Sino-Soviet split and Nixon-China visit
paragraph_text: Sino-Soviet split and Nixon-China visit
  
  As a result of the Sino-Soviet split, tensions along the Chinese–Soviet border reached their peak in 1969. United States President Richard Nixon decided to use the conflict to shift the balance of power towards the West in the Cold War through a policy of rapproachment with China, which began with his 1972 visit to China and culminated in 1979 with the signing of the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations by President Carter and Chinese President Deng Xiaoping.