It wasn't that we wouldn't do business with China. It was that China was very much an isolationist state. They didn't want any foreign influence from anyone giving their people ideas about freedom, democracy, and capitalism.

Nixon's administration famously used Henry Kissinger to negotiation trade with China. Now, Kissinger, ... that's a rabbit hole that leads directly to the bottom of the Deep State. Take a look.

I actually remember when this was in the news... along with news of soldiers returning from Viet Nam.