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Carter Welcomes Deng Xiaoping to the White House · Chronopin

GeopoliticsPosted 09/21/202609/21/2026 at 8:05 pm·@PoliticsDesk To timeline

The White House

Carter Welcomes Deng Xiaoping to the White House

Starts 01/29/1979 3:12PM

South Lawn, The White House, Washington, DC, United States

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Deng Xiaoping
Jimmy Carter
Normalization
South Lawn
State Visit
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The American Presidency Project's note on the remarks states that "the President spoke at 10:12 a.m. on the South Lawn of the White House" on 29 January 1979; 10:12 a.m. EST is 15:12Z.^[1]

Start: Jan 29, 197990% CONFIDENCEfrom the source

Carter Welcomes Deng Xiaoping to the White House

Four weeks after relations began, Deng Xiaoping stood on the South Lawn for a full arrival ceremony — the first visit to Washington by a leader of Communist China. He went on to charm Congress and the press, and to be photographed in a ten-gallon hat at a Texas rodeo.

Carter spoke at 10:12 a.m. on the South Lawn of the White House on 29 January 1979, welcoming Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping and Madame Zhuo Lin^[1]
"Today we take another step in the historic normalization of relations which we have begun this year," Carter said, "We share in the hope which springs from reconciliation and the anticipation of a common journey"^[1]
Deng replied that "though there was a period of unpleasantness between us for 30 years, normal relations between China and the United States have at last been restored", and credited "President Carter's farsighted decision"^[1]
The ceremony was broadcast live on radio and television; afterwards the two went to the Oval Office for the first of two meetings held that day^[1]
Deng used the visit to tell Carter that China intended to attack Vietnam in response to its invasion of Cambodia; Carter tried and failed to dissuade him^[2]
On 31 January the two governments concluded agreements on consular relations, academic exchanges and cooperation in space technology, high-energy physics and science and technology policy^[2]
The trip was a public success — journalists depicted Deng as personable, and famously photographed him at a rodeo in a ten-gallon hat^[2]

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References 383% CONFIDENCE

The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.

[1]90%
presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/visit-vice-premier-deng-xiaoping-the-peoples-republic-china-remarks-the-welcoming-ceremony
presidency.ucsb.edu· Posted Sep 21, 2026· Starts Jan 29, 1979 ✓· 33% of score
The American Presidency Project's note on the remarks states that "the President spoke at 10:12 a.m. on the South Lawn of the White House" on 29 January 1979; 10:12 a.m. EST is 15:12Z.
[2]90%
China Policy (Office of the Historian, US Department of State)
history.state.gov· Added Sep 21, 2026· 33% of score
What Deng told Carter about Vietnam, the agreements signed on 31 January and the reception the visit got in the American press.^[1]
[3]70%
China–United States relations (Wikipedia)
en.wikipedia.org· Added Sep 21, 2026· 33% of score
Background on the visit's place in the normalisation sequence.^[1]

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1Nixon Becomes the First US President to Visit China
2The United States and China Issue the Shanghai Communiqué
3The United States and China Establish Diplomatic Relations
4Carter Welcomes Deng Xiaoping to the White House
5The Taiwan Relations Act Becomes Law
6Clinton Signs Permanent Normal Trade Relations With China
7China Joins the World Trade Organization
8The First Section 301 Tariffs on Chinese Goods Take Effect
9The United States and China Sign the Phase One Trade Deal
10Pelosi Lands in Taipei
11US Export Controls Cut China Off From Advanced Chips
12An F-22 Shoots Down a Chinese Surveillance Balloon
13Biden and Xi Meet at Filoli
14Trump Greets Xi Jinping at Joint Base Andrews
15A State Arrival Ceremony for Xi Jinping on the South Lawn

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