President Nixon’s historic trip to China in 1972 came less than a year after the UN passed a resolution recognizing the People’s Republic as: “the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations”.

Historians say it was China’s growing presence at the UN that helped pave the way for the thawing of relations with the U.S.

The diplomatic rapprochement of the early 1970s also shaped the UN and China’s role in it.