Clyde- It has long been widely believed that the Nixon/Kissinger meetings and strategy were a great success. No one has emphasized this more than Kissinger. In fact, it was not. It misjudged the CCP and created a soothing but false narrative about U.S.-China relations that enabled the U.S. to fool itself about the reality of the nature of the regime and of the true U.S.-China relationship. It enabled Deng and his acolytes to "hide and bide" for much longer than should have been possible. Incidentally, it also made Kissinger quite wealthy as a front man for the party. Yes, I believe Kissinger may well have subtly been trying to remind the Chinese leaders, but it is now far too late. He no longer has clout in U.S. policy making circles and Beijing knows that.