Half century on, US hawks revive criticism of China normalization

For half a century, Richard Nixon’s opening to communist China has been viewed by many Americans as a diplomatic masterstroke, with successive presidents of both parties following his course. US hawks have now revived an alternative view — that normalization was a mistake that, in the view of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, set the stage for an aggressive China and soaring tensions between Washington and Beijing. It all began in 1971 with…