In July 1971, after months of positive signaling between Washington and Beijing, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger secretly travels to Beijing to meet Premier Zhou Enlai, hoping to take advantage of a rivalry between the PRC and the Soviet Union. This "back-channel diplomacy" lays the groundwork for a future presidential visit and the re-establishment of an official relationship between the United States and the PRC. In Kissinger's Beijing negotiations, several Taiwan-related issues are discussed. According to the transcript, the United States agrees not to support independence and not to pursue a policy of two Chinas, and abandons the idea that Taiwan's status is undetermined.