#USChinaTradeTalks The relations between the United States and the new Chinese government deteriorated rapidly, culminating in a direct conflict during the Korean War. The United Nations intervention led by the United States encountered the Chinese military intervention, as Beijing sent millions of Chinese fighters to prevent a U.S.-aligned presence on its border. For decades, the United States did not formally recognize the People's Republic of China, instead maintaining diplomatic relations with the Republic of China based in Taiwan, and as such blocked the entry of the People's Republic of China into the United Nations. However, changes in the geopolitical dynamics, including the Sino-Soviet split, the end of the Vietnam War, and the Cultural Revolution, paved the way for U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972, which ultimately marked a radical shift in relations between the United States and China. On January 1, 1979, the United States formally established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China and recognized it as the sole legitimate government of China, although it maintained unofficial ties with Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act, an issue that remains a significant point of contention between the two countries to this day.