Word.ws English Dictionary

Nixon goes to China

Nixon goes to China is the alternative form of Nixon in China.

Meaning of Nixon in China

Phrase

Nixon in China

  1. (idiomatic) Suggesting the ability of a politician with an unassailable reputation among his or her supporters for representing and defending their values to take actions that would draw their criticism and even opposition if taken by someone without those credentials.
    • “People have tried to duplicate Nixon in China over and over again, including Iran,” Mann said. He cites the ill-fated 1986 journey by President Ronald Reagan’s national security adviser Robert “Bud” McFarlane, who traveled to Tehran carrying a Bible with a handwritten verse from Reagan and a...2015 March 14, Steven Mufson, “Is Obama’s Iran overture like Nixon’s opening to China?”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2015

Questions about Nixon goes to China

What is Nixon goes to China the alternative form of?
Nixon goes to China is the alternative form of Nixon in China.

Words near Nixon goes to China in the dictionary

  1. Nixie tube
  2. Nixie tubes
  3. nixies
  4. nixing
  5. Nixon
  6. Nixon goes to China
  7. Nixon in China
  8. Nixon shock
  9. Nixon to China
  10. Nixonesque
  11. Nixonette

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Nixon goes to China (page history and authors); Nixon in China (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-Nixon goes to China.ogg.

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