In 1988, a reporter asked Reagan about his prior statement regarding the Soviet Union being an "evil empire" and whether he still stood by it. He said that was no longer the case, adding, "That was another time, another era." When asked whether he and Gorbachev were friends, he said, "Yes,"
https://www.grunge.com/987861/the-truth-about-mikhail-gorbachev-and-ronald-reagans-relationship/
Reagan had first called the Soviet Union the "Evil Empire" in a 1982 speech before the House of Commons, and again in a 1983 speech. At that time, Brezhnev was still leading the Soviet Union, and they were still sending more and more troops into Afghanistan and fomenting trouble elsewhere in the world.
The 1988 statement came at a summit in Moscow between Reagan and Gorbachev (two Chairmen after Brezhnev),
after the Soviet Union had actually begun the withdrawal from Afghanistan two weeks before, and after Gorbachev had promised more concessions on nuclear weapons and the START talks. In other words, Reagan changed his behavior towards the Soviet Union when the Soviet Union's own behavior had changed, and when they had a new leader who wasn't as intent on expansionism. His judgment of Gorbachev later was proved 100% correct when Gorbachev presided over/permitted the non-violent dismantling of both the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union itself.
Xi JinPing is the exact same guy who has been ordering provocations against Taiwan and U.S. naval assets in the Pacific. He's the same guy who gave us Covid, lied about it, and under whose leadership China is still engaged in wholesale, government-directed theft of our technology. He's an aggressive and expansionistic Chinese leader who is becoming worse rather than better.
