Download
The Dixie Mission: A lost opportunity for U.S.-China relations?
Updated 23:41, 23-Jun-2021
Jim Spellman

Translating...

Content is automatically generated by Microsoft Azure Translator Text API. CGTN is not responsible for any of the translations.

Error loading player: No playable sources found
04:09

In the minds of many, U.S. engagement with the Communist Party of China began in the 1970s under President Richard Nixon.

But the first official contact between the U.S. and the CCP actually dates back to 1944.

That's when a plane carrying a group of U.S. observers touched down in Yan'an, China, home base of the Communists, led by Mao Zedong.

This U.S. operation came to be known as "The Dixie Mission."

CGTN's Jim Spellman has the story of what many historians consider a lost opportunity for U.S.-China relations.

Check out The China Report, our new weekly newsletter. Subscribe here!

MORE FROM CGTN
Xi Jinping arrives in Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur for state visit
{"type":2,"value":"CGTN","commentator":[],"valueShow":true,"commentatorShow":false}

China

10:16, 15-Apr-2025

Xi calls for deeper China-Malaysia ties in signed article
{"type":2,"value":"CGTN","commentator":[],"valueShow":true,"commentatorShow":false}

Politics

10:10, 15-Apr-2025

Xi Jinping wraps up state visit to Vietnam
{"type":2,"value":"CGTN","commentator":[],"valueShow":true,"commentatorShow":false}

China

10:05, 15-Apr-2025

Xi, To Lam witness launching ceremony of railway cooperation mechanism
{"type":2,"value":"CGTN","commentator":[],"valueShow":true,"commentatorShow":false}

China

04:12, 15-Apr-2025

TOP NEWS
Xi Jinping urges China, Vietnam to jointly march toward modernization
{"type":2,"value":"CGTN","commentator":[],"valueShow":true,"commentatorShow":false}

China

14:13, 14-Apr-2025

China urges U.S. to end maximum pressure with 'reciprocal tariffs'
{"type":2,"value":"CGTN","commentator":[],"valueShow":true,"commentatorShow":false}

China

08:42, 14-Apr-2025

China sees 15.3% increase in entry-exit trips in Q1 of 2025
{"type":2,"value":"CGTN","commentator":[],"valueShow":true,"commentatorShow":false}

China

02:32, 15-Apr-2025

Search Trends