World Reactions
Though we now know that Nixon's visit to China was an essential step in ensuring a stable and generally more peaceful global economic structure, at the time it was deemed extremely controversial. In the United States, of course, anti-communist hawks vehemently opposed the visit, but it was really other foreign nations, quite a few of them allies, that were most outraged. The British, who had prided themselves on a special relationship with the U.S., were irritated by their non-inclusion in the negotiations or decision-making, and many Asian countries that had defense treaties with the U.S. now questioned its loyalty. "The proposition that the United States is Australia's best friend does no longer command general support", wrote the head of Australia's Foreign Service, and Indira Gandhi publicly warned the new allies "not to think they could collude in Asia". Worst of all, the Japanese, who also had not been informed in advance, were furious and humiliated upon learning of the visit, interpreting it as a serious betrayal of trust; a betrayal that, despite Nixon and Kissinger's best efforts, Japanese/American relations never truly recovered from.
The visit turned out to be an even greater shock to the Soviet leadership, who had not expected such a swift break-through in Sino-American affairs, and had been procrastinating on the arrangement of a Russian-American visit. The mood in the Kremlin, where suspicion and fear of China ran deep, was one of confusion and, indeed, almost hysteria. Initial comment in the Soviet press talked darkly about anti-Sovietism.
However, immediately after his return from China, Kissinger contacted Anatoly Dobrynin, Soviet Ambassador to the United States, to arrange the aforementioned meeting. Kissinger's plan had been successful, forcing Russia into a far more accomodating bargaining position than ever possible before.