. >> smith: a young aide to kissinger, winston lord, was on the trip.e interested in exploring a u.s. alliance. taiwan got pushed down the list. >> during the summit, mao would outline the basic chinese position. he said that the taiwan issue could take 100 years. that's another way of saying, "taiwan's important to us, we'll maintain our principle, but we don't have to solve it for a while." >> smith: after a week of negotiations, the status of taiwan remained unresolved. nixon referred to taiwan as "an irritant." his private handwritten notes reveal nixon was prepared to yield. "our poly is one china," he wrote. "taiwan is part of china. won't support taiwan independence." it became known as the one china policy. nixon conceded that taiwan was officially part of china. at the same time, nixon and kissinger defended taiwan's right to autonomy. it was a compromise. >> on the specific issue of taiwan, of course we had to make a gesture, and we came up with a one china formulation that's quite elastic and elusive, and has served until this day. both parti