Ask the Scholar
Document scope · 1 page
Scholar
Ask about this object, its catalog metadata, its source description, or the page inventory.
For page-specific OCR and visual context, open one of the page chats.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
428079875
label
President Bush's Meeting with President Yang Shangkun of the People's Republic of China, February 25, 1989 (1 of 2)
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
428079875
contentType
document
title
President Bush's Meeting with President Yang Shangkun of the People's Republic of China, February 25, 1989 (1 of 2)
citationUrl
collections
Records of the National Security Council (George H. W. Bush Administration)
Presidential Memcon Files
subjects
China
largeImageUrl
imageCount
1
hasImages
yes
source
import
hasTranscription
no
Source extras
naId
428079875
levelOfDescription
item
productionDates
day
25
logicalDate
1989-02-25
month
2
year
1989
recordType
description
ocrSource
nara-archive
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
document
mediaId
433c27aa0656b25f
ocrText
SECRET
1219
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
SECRET
MEMORANDUM OF CONVERSATION
SUBJECT:
President Bush's Meeting with President
Yang Shangkun of the People's Republic
of China
PARTICIPANTS:
U.S.
The President
James Baker III, Secretary of State
Winston Lord, Ambassador to China
John Sununu, Chief of Staff
Brent Scowcroft, Assistant to the President
for National Security Affairs
Andrew Card, Deputy Chief of Staff
Marlin Fitzwater, Assistant to the
President for Press Relations
Gaston J. Sigur, Assistant Secretary of State
for East Asia and Pacific Affairs
Robert Zoellick, Counselor-Designate,
State Department
Margaret Tutwiler, Assistant Secretary of
State, Public Affairs (Designate)
James A. Kelly, Senior Director of Asian
Affairs, National Security Council
J. Stapleton Roy, Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State
Peter Tomsen, Deputy Chief of Mission,
Beijing
Karl Jackson, Senior Director of Asian
Affairs, National Security Council
Ray Burghardt, Political Counselor, Embassy
Beijing
Mark Mohr, Notetaker
Vivian Chang, Interpreter
China
President Yang Shangkun
Vice Premier Wu Xueqian
Ambassador Han Xu
Assistant Foreign Minister Zhu Qizhen
MFA Protocol Director Wu Minglian
MFA Information Director Li Zhaoxing
USA Department Deputy Director Zha Peixin
USA Department Counselor Wang Li
USA Department Division Chief Ma Zhengang
MFA Protocol Deputy Division Chief
Liu Xizheng
MFA Protocol First Secretary Zhu Luchang
Other participants (2)
Notetakers (2)
Interpreter
DECLASSIFIED
SECRET
PER E.O. 12958,
Declassify on: OADR
SECRET
AS AMENDED
2000-0429-F
CEI
B/21/09
SECRET
2
SECRET
DATE, TIME
February 25, 1989, 7:00 p.m. - 7:40 p.m.
AND PLACE:
Great Hall of the People, Heibei Room,
Beijing, China
Summary: In a warm and cordial forty-minute meeting, President
Yang called President Bush's first trip to China since taking
office "very significant" and said that his meetings with China's
top leaders would further promote the development of Sino-U.S.
relations.
President Bush promised Chairman Wan Li a warm welcome to the
U.S. in May. He characterized the Sino-U.S. relationship as very
strong.
President Yang fully agreed, noting that high-level visits
contribute to this process. Yang expressed satisfaction that
relations between China and the U.S. have been developing
steadily.
President Bush stated he was not worried about the Gorbachev
visit to China. He characterized the U.S.-China relationship as
standing on its own merits, rather than being a facet of U.S.-
Soviet relations. He assured President Yang that the U.S. would
not enter into any agreements with the Soviet Union that would be
to the detriment of China or Sino-U.S. relations.
President Yang assured the President that Sino-Soviet
normalization would not harm any third country, and that a
military alliance or military relationship with the Soviet Union
would be "out of the question." On the issue of Cambodia, Yang
said the attitude of the Vietnamese and Phnom Penh puppet regime
has gone from bad to worse, and it remained to be seen whether
the Soviets would make good on their consensus with China that
all Vietnamese troops should withdraw from Cambodia by September
30. End summary.
President Yang: How is your health?
President Bush: I've had a cold, but I feel better now.
President Yang: You must be very busy these days.
President Bush: Yes, we had a very busy trip in Japan, and I've
been occupied with the economy and the budget.
President Yang: We are very glad to have you in China. You, Mr.
President, are familiar to Chinese leaders and even to the
Chinese people. Recently, our press has published a picture of
you and Mrs. Bush riding bicycles.
President Bush: Yes. Premier Li Peng just gave me a pair of
beautiful bicycles.
President Yang: I'm afraid the quality might not be very good.
SECRET
SECRET
3
SECRET
SECRET
President Bush: The bicycles are very fine.
President Yang: All of us were glad to learn of your trip to
China. I understand you served here for almost two years as
Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office.
President Bush: Yes.
President Yang: And since then you've been here on four
occasions, not including this trip.
President Bush: Yes, and Mrs. Bush has been here five times.
This is her sixth visit.
President Yang: She has come once more than you. Every time you
come, you discuss major issues with Chinese leaders. So you've
made great contributions to the development of Sino-U.S.
relations and to cooperation between our two countries. As this
is your first trip to China since you've taken your present
office, it is very significant. I think this shows that you, Mr.
President, pay much attention to our bilateral relationship.
This also shows the friendly sentiments you cherish for the
Chinese people. Although your stay this time is short, all top
Chinese leaders will meet you. This will promote the further
development of Sino-U.S. relations. When you lived in China,
Chairman Deng was a good friend of yours. Our present General
Secretary, Zhao Ziyang, is also an old friend. In addition,
present Premier Li Peng paid a visit to the United States and was
received by you. He says that he once dined at your home.
President Bush: Yes, that's correct.
President Yang: You also know Chairman Wan Li well. You've
played tennis with him. He says he frequently lost to you.
President Bush: Wan Li will be very welcome as the highest
ranking Chinese official to come to the U.S. this year. We will
give him some good tennis action too.
President Yang: Originally, we would have been pleased to
arrange a tennis match between you and Wang, but your visit is
too short.
President Bush: I'll be too busy.
President Yang: So we will let him go to the United States to
play tennis.
President Bush: There is good weather in May. His visit will
be symbolically important. I will tell him tomorrow that we will
give him a very warm welcome. Officially, because of protocol,
Vice President Quayle will be his host. But, on a personal
basis, I want him to know that I will be his host too.
SECRET
SECRET
4
SECRET
SECRET
President Yang: He will be very pleased to hear this. This is
the third time I am meeting with you. The first time was in
Manila, and the second was in 1987 when I led a Chinese
government delegation to the United States as your guest.
President Bush: It was a wonderful visit.
President Yang: On that visit, I was warmly received by U.S.
leaders and the arrangements were very considerate. You and I
had over a four-hour talk on the Presidential yacht. The talks
were warm, friendly and frank.
President Bush: Yes, it was not diplomatic; it was very frank
and good.
President Yang: It was just like talks between good friends.
President Bush: From our side we feel the bilateral relationship
is very strong. We hope you agree.
President Yang: I fully agree. The reason why I recalled our
previous meetings was to illustrate that frequent top-level
visits are not only beneficial to our bilateral relations but
also to world peace.
President Bush: I think some of our top military leaders are
coming to China this year. For example, Chief of Staff of the
Air Force Larry Welch, and some others. That's a good thing.
With your background, you can understand the importance of such
military visits.
President Yang: In recent years, there have been frequent
exchanges of visits by military leaders of our two countries. In
that sense, your visit is very timely and good for an exchange of
views. I think the relationship between our two countries has
been developing steadily. There are broad areas for cooperation
between our two countries. Naturally, we hope to promote further
such cooperation through your visit. This visit comes at a time
that is very important for both our countries. The current
international situation is developing and undergoing drastic
changes. In this light our two countries should step up
consultations on many issues. We should carry out in-depth
analysis and observations on many developments. And we should
take corresponding actions to accord with the current trend
toward relaxation of tensions.
President Bush: I agree.
President Yang: Just now I said relations between our two
countries have been steadily developing over the past decade.
But I think we should sum up past efforts, and look to the
future. I think the deepening and expansion of cooperation
between our two countries serves the interests of our two
peoples. Therefore, the leaders of our two countries should
carry out frequent exchanges of views. Now the general
SECRET
SECRET
SECRET
5
SECRET
international situation is moving toward the resolution of
problems, but there are still many outstanding issues, so it is
necessary to exchange views. Naturally, you are giving
consideration to these issues, and we are doing the same. In our
own bilateral relationship, I think we should also exchange views
on many issues. Therefore, I want to reiterate that we warmly
welcome your visit. This is not just an ordinary welcome. We
are old friends.
President Bush: I agree.
President Yang: I think international developments in the world
today should not weaken, but rather strengthen, the importance of
our bilateral relationship. We are two big countries, located
on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean. So the friendly
cooperation between our two countries will promote cooperation in
the Pacific region and in the world as well. This is most
important for the maintenance of world peace, stability and
security. All these questions will be discussed in detail in
your talks tomorrow with Li Peng, Zhao Ziyang and Deng Xiaoping.
Therefore, we are very glad to receive you in Beijing at such a
crucial moment. I have one more remark. When you were
campaigning for President, we closely followed the elections.
Once in talking to former Secretary of Defense Carlucci, Chairman
Deng also revealed his desires. Personally, as I have told
Ambassador Lord many times, if I could vote, I would vote for
Bush.
President Bush: When I was behind, I thought of calling you and
asking for 30 million votes.
President Yang: I once told Ambassador Lord that it was a pity I
could not vote. I would have voted for you.
President Bush: Although China was never an issue in the
campaign, the fact that I have some feeling for China may have
affected the elections because this relationship is broadly
supported in the U.S. There was a subtle feeling from the
American people that they wanted someone who could move relations
with China and other countries forward, someone who had foreign
affairs experience. Let me make one point about our relationship
now which I will deal with in depth tomorrow. Some of the press
travelling with us say: Mr. President, do you worry about
Gorbachev going to Beijing? I say: I don't worry at all about
it. When I saw Gorbachev in New York before I became President,
and before his visit was announced, I said: I hope you go to
China. I feel the relationship we have now is not based on some
facet of Soviet relations, but on its own merits. For example,
we now have cultural, educational and trade relations. It is not
just based on worry about the Soviets, although we still do to a
degree. We are undertaking a high-level review now about what
steps we should take with the Soviet Union. We welcome the
changes in the Soviet Union, such as glasnost and perestroika,
although they still have their problems. We have documents which
define Sino-U.S. relations. In the three communiques, we have
SECRET
SECRET
SECRET
6
SECRET
the underpinnings that define the U.S.-China relationship. We
will build on those three documents, the communiques. And just
as in the INF agreement, where we would not enter into an
agreement that was bad for China and thus for Sino-U.S.
relations, I can assure you that what we do with the Soviets in
the future in arms control or other agreements will not be to the
detriment of China. This relationship stands on its own and is
strong. And I assure you as President that there will not be a
deal on arms that will work to the disadvantage of China.
President Yang: We believe this. The Sino-Soviet summit will
soon take place, but the idea of the summit was first proposed by
Chairman Deng, not by the Soviets. The key issue at the time was
Cambodia. It was natural that in trying to solve the Cambodian
question there should be consultations. We had talks with the
Soviets at the Vice Foreign Minister and Foreign Minister levels.
We hope through the summit we can promote a genuine peaceful and
just settlement. The last time the Foreign Ministers met, there
was a consensus that Vietnamese troops should be withdrawn by
September 30 of this year. But now the attitude of the
Vietnamese and the Phnom Penh puppet regime has gone from bad to
worse and has not improved. So we have to wait and see whether
the Soviets can put into practice the consensus reached with
China. Also I can assure you that normalization of Sino-Soviet
relations will not be like in the 1950s.
President Bush: No.
President Yang: Also any military alliance or military
relationship with the Soviet Union is out of the question. So I
request that American leaders understand this. We will on no
account imperil the interests of any third country in improving
relations with the Soviet Union. In a word, we must watch the
deeds of Mr. Gorbachev and not just listen to his words. All
Sino-Soviet negotiations, beginning with the Khrushchev years,
have been led by Deng Xiaoping. All Chinese delegations to
international conferences or between parties have been led by
Chairman Deng. I also participated in some of the negotiations.
Therefore, I think a Chinese saying is applicable to the Soviets:
We will not only listen to his words, but watch his deeds. I
think when meeting with Chairman Deng, he will give you a
systematic elaboration on this.
President Bush: I am eager to hear his views.
President Yang: He has the richest experience in dealing with
the Soviets.
President Bush: In the 1950s did Deng deal with the military
aspects of Sino-Soviet relations?
President Yang: No. At that time he was Vice Premier. Later,
when he became the General Secretary of the Party, he was in
charge of Party military affairs. He was elected General
Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party at the Eighth Party
SECRET
SECRET
7
SECRET
SECRET
Congress. Soon after that, relations with the Soviets began to
worsen. There are many old friends of yours here who were glad
to hear of your visit. Please take a few minutes for a short
cocktail party that we have arranged so that they can meet you.
President Bush: But we were just getting started, like on the
boat.
President Yang: We will have more opportunity to talk at dinner.
Now we have planned a very short, 15-minute cocktail party. Vice
Premier Wu Xueqian and Foreign Minister Qian will accompany you
to the cocktail party.
SECRET
SECRET