With the end of the Cold War, the containment of the Soviet Union ushered in by Kissinger’s visit could no longer serve as the basis for US-China relations. Moreover, relations with China cooled after the Tiananmen Square shootings in 1989, and the Clinton administration had to devise a new approach.
随着冷战结束，基辛格访华所引入的遏制苏联计划已不再是中美关系的基础。而两国关系更在1989年天安门事件后跌入冰点，以致克林顿政府只能另辟蹊径。