South Vietnam was betrayed by Nixon only because the stupidity of Watergate gave the Democrats the political cover to defund the South Vietnamese. A strong Nixon could have kept the funding and bombed the 1975 North Vietnamese invasion into dust.
With regards to Nixon and China, many people credit Nixon as if his opening to China was a masterstroke of initiative. But there were internal politics in China at play. Mao thought his second in command was plotting to take over. He had Lin Biao and Biao's wife over for dinner and as they left his compound the Red Army blew the car up with a rocket grenade, killing both. A last supper as it were. Biao's son, a fighter pilot, fled to the USSR but was shot down and killed. They had indeed been plotting with the Russians! This is documented in the book:
"The Conspiracy and Death of Lin Biao: How Mao's Successor Plotted and Failed- An Inside Account of the Most Bizarre and Mysterious Event in the History of Modern China" by Yao Ming-le
It is also referenced in HR Haldeman's book "The Ends of Power" which means US intelligence likely understood what was happening in China power struggles and this meant an opening could be made.
South Vietnam was betrayed by Nixon only because the stupidity of Watergate gave the Democrats the political cover to defund the South Vietnamese. A strong Nixon could have kept the funding and bombed the 1975 North Vietnamese invasion into dust.
With regards to Nixon and China, many people credit Nixon as if his opening to China was a masterstroke of initiative. But there were internal politics in China at play. Mao thought his second in command was plotting to take over. He had Lin Biao and Biao's wife over for dinner and as they left his compound the Red Army blew the car up with a rocket grenade, killing both. A last supper as it were. Biao's son, a fighter pilot, fled to the USSR but was shot down and killed. They had indeed been plotting with the Russians! This is documented in the book:
"The Conspiracy and Death of Lin Biao: How Mao's Successor Plotted and Failed- An Inside Account of the Most Bizarre and Mysterious Event in the History of Modern China" by Yao Ming-le
It is also referenced in HR Haldeman's book "The Ends of Power" which means US intelligence likely understood what was happening in China power struggles and this meant an opening could be made.