---
title: "Shanghai Communiqué Definition | Model Diplomat"
description: "The Shanghai Communiqué is the 1972 statement that initiated U.S.-China relations and established the 'one China' framework, crucial for diplomats."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/shanghai-communique"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Shanghai Communiqué is the 1972 joint statement issued by the United States and the People's Republic of China that opened normalization of bilateral relations and articulated the "one China" framework.
- What is the significance of the word 'acknowledges' in the Shanghai Communiqué?
- What are the three U.S.–China joint communiqués?
- How did the Shanghai Communiqué relate to Cold War strategy?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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## Timeline

1. 28 February 1972

   The Shanghai Communiqué (signed in Shanghai) is the foundational diplomatic instrument of modern U.S.–China relations, issued at the conclusion of President…

2. 17 August 1982

   The document is the first of the three joint communiqués that structure the relationship, the others being the 1979 Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of…

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Example

In February 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai concluded the Shanghai Communiqué, in which Washington stated it did not challenge that Taiwan is part of China.

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[Cross Strait Relations The Taiwan Question](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/china-foreign-policy-cross-strait-relations-the-taiwan-question)[Summitry Communiques Joint Statements](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/exam-diplomacy-statecraft-summitry-communiques-joint-statements)

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