After the Sino-Soviet war broke out on 2 March 1969, both Washington and Beijing engaged in a diplomatic “dance” to signal that they sought to open diplomatic relations. The 4 May 1970 dating of the Kent State Massacre that killed four students is highly coincidental, therefore, in particular considering the historical importance of the 4 May 1919 student protests against the Paris Peace Treaty (see Picture 9). As mentioned earlier, news of the transfer of the Shandong concession to Japan was initially released on 30 April 1919, but Japan's statement of intent was not widely published. In China, public demonstrations and student protests indicated that Chinese dissatisfaction was widespread, as student groups marched through the foreign legation quarter on 4 May 1919, and left protests at the American, British, French and Italian embassies. When the police arrested 32 students, one was killed, which caused further demonstrations. These events later resulted in the creation of the Chinese Communist Party in July 1921.

As mentioned earlier, Wilson's secretary mistakenly never published the compromise Wilson had negotiated with Japan. This coincidental oversight proved to be fatal. By 20 May 1919, the “May Fourth Movement” had expanded and students from middle schools and universities in Peking went on strike. The center of the movement then shifted to Shanghai, where a general strike of students, workers, and businessmen swelled to 100,000 and paralyzed Shanghai. Terms for the return of Shandong were agreed to at the Washington Conference in 1921–22. But, as long as China refused to sign the Versailles Peace Treaty, Japan could not carry out arrangements to transfer the Shandong concessions to China. Furthermore, during this more than two-year delay the Chinese Communist Party was founded during July 1921, in part due to the Shandong controversy. Therefore, the 51st anniversary of the 4 May 1919 movement held great meaning for Chinese revolutionaries.

Sino-Soviet tensions resulting from the 2 March 1969 border war presented President Richard Nixon a rare opportunity to combine forces with China to exert greater pressure on the USSR and, over the long term, induce its economic collapse. On 4 August 1969, President Nixon called Moscow the main aggressor in the Sino-Soviet border conflict and argued that a Chinese defeat would be contrary to U.S. interests.