The then National Security Advisor (NSA) Henry Kissinger went on a secret trip to China in 1971 to meet the then-Chinese PM Zhou Enlai. The visit was code-named "Marco Polo" as it was much like the Venetian explorer's trip to an unknown land.

The mission was simple--to establish a relationship that didn't exist for two decades.
Many historians believe that trip changed the course of world history. But on the fiftieth anniversary of that trip, relations between the two giants have deteriorated like never before.

Chinese media has been full of stories on the Kissinger trip and how both the nations may be in need of “another Kissinger.” Despite a current fraught relationship with the U.S., China seems to celebrate Kissinger trip’s 50th anniversary. [http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202107/10/WS60e8545ea310efa1bd660f1f.html]

"It was a time when the US was under the Nixon administration, who appointed politicians as knowledgeable as Kissinger and who did what was right for the US," writes Lü Xiang in an opinion piece in Global Times, the Chinese Communist Party-controlled English paper.

But the situation is changed now. While both the countries saw the Soviet Union as a threat to both the countries in 1971, China and the U.S. stand opposite as rivals on the world stage.

Another issue that Kissinger tread cautiously on was Taiwan. Kissinger is said to have promised China that the U.S. would not stand for a "two Chinas" or a "one China, one Taiwan" approach, nor would it support or encourage Taiwan "independence." The U.S. sees Taiwan as a "bargaining" point on the negotiation table.

Talking at a webinar on the 50th anniversary of his visit, Kissinger said that United States and China should sit down for talks using ex-President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to Beijing as a model.[https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4244457]

Who will play the role of Kissinger in the changed situation?

Read more:

Kissinger's Operation Marco Polo:
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1227845.shtml

Can the U.S. correct its mistakes. A Chinese viewpoint:
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1228196.shtml

"Hear the words of the wise"
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-07-09/The-words-of-the-wise-50th-anniversary-of-Kissinger-s-trip-to-China-11Jupz9pDoI/index.html