Those other fellows paved the way for Clinton. Nixon's visit in 72 established diplomatic relations with the ChiComs. Henry Kissinger did all the advance work on this. Other Western capitalist nations then followed suit allowing multiple avenues of economic opportunity to open up. HW Bush headed the U.S. Liaison Office in China under Gerald Ford, and then later as President, thanks to connections established in the 70s, strengthen the bilateral trade relations which later allowed Clinton to do the dirty work. Incrementalism has long been a deep state tactic, in which they employ corrupt actors on both the right and the left.