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Welcoming Banquet Toast--Beijing, China 2/25/89 [OA 6343] [2]
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Welcoming Banquet Toast--Beijing, China 2/25/89 [OA 6343] [2]
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Originally Processed With FOIA(s):
FOIA Number:
S; 2000-0949-F
S
FOIA
MARKER
This is not a textual record. This is used as an
administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
Library Staff.
Record Group/Collection:
George H.W. Bush Presidential Records
Collection/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting, White House Office of
Series:
Speech File Backup Files
Subseries:
Chron File, 1989-1993
OA/ID Number:
13658
Folder ID Number:
13658-003
Folder Title:
Welcoming Banquet Toast--Beijing, China 2/25/89 [OA 6343] [2]
Stack:
Row:
Section:
Shelf:
Position:
G
26
18
6
6
Feb
Chase's Annual Events
1989
NORWAY: HOLMENKOLLEN SKI FESTIVAL. Feb 27-Mar
3. Oslo, Norway.
ST. GABRIEL POSSENTI FEAST DAY. Feb 27. St. Gabriel of
the Sorrowful Mother (Francis Possenti, 1838-1862). Italian
patron saint of young seminarians.
"SHANGHAI COMMUNIQUE" ANNIVERSARY. Feb 27.
President Richard Nixon and Chinese Premier Chou En-lai
issued a joint communique on Feb 27, 1972, describing their
historic discussions and defining areas of difference and agree-
ment. Nixon was the first US president to visit any country not
diplomatically recognized by the US.
BIRTHDAYS TODAY
Mary Frann, actress, born at St. Louis, MO, Feb 27, 1943.
Alan Guth, physicist, born at New Brunswick, NJ, Feb 27, 1947.
Howard Hesseman, actor, born at Salem, OR, Feb 27, 1940.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, broadcast journalist, born at Due
West, SC, Feb 27, 1942.
Ralph Nader, consumer advocate, lawyer, born at Winsted, CT,
Feb 27, 1934.
Irwin Shaw, writer, born at New York, NY, Feb 27, 1913.
Elizabeth Taylor, actress, born at London, England, Feb 27,
1932.
Malcolm Wallop, US Senator, (R, Wyoming), born at New York,
NY, Feb 27, 1933.
ST. OSWALD OF WORCESTER: FEAST DAY. Feb 28.
Joanne Woodward, actress, born at Thomasville, GA, Feb 27,
Bishop of Worcester from 961, and Archbishop of York from
1930.
972. Oswald died on Feb 29, 992, but Feb 28 is generally cele-
brated as his Feast Day.
FEBRUARY 28 - Tuesday
TENNIEL, JOHN: BIRTH ANNIVERSARY. Feb 28. English
59th Day - Remaining, 306
illustrator and cartoonist, Sir John Tenniel was born at London
on Feb 28, 1820. Best remembered for his illustrations for Lewis
AMERICAN CAMPING ASSOCIATION: NATIONAL
Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Tenniel died at
CONVENTION. Feb 28-Mar 4. Westin Hotel, Seattle, WA.
London, Feb 25, 1914.
Theme: "Let the Spirits Soar in the Pacific Northwest." Spon-
sor: American Camping Assn, 5000 State Rd 67 N, Martinsville,
USS PRINCETON EXPLOSION ANNIVERSARY. Feb 28.
IN 46151.
On Feb 28, 1844, the newly built "war steamer," USS Princeton,
BLONDIN, CHARLES: BIRTH ANNIVERSARY. Feb 28.
cruising on the Potomac River with top government officials as
Daring French acrobat and aerialist (whose real name was Jean
its passengers, fired one of its guns (known, ironically, as the
Francois Gravelet) was born at St. Omer, France, Feb 28, 1824.
"Peacemaker") to demonstrate the latest in naval armament.
Especially remembered for his conquest of Niagara Falls. See
The gun exploded, killing Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of State;
also: "Charles Blondin's Conquest of Niagara Falls: Anniver-
Thomas W. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy; David Gardiner, of
sary" (June 30).
Gardiners Island, NY; and several others. Many were injured.
MONTAIGNE, MICHEL, DE: BIRTH ANNIVERSARY. Feb
The president of the US, John Tyler, was on board and narrowly
28. French essayist and philosopher, born Feb 28, 1533. Died
escaped death.
Sept 13, 1592. "And if you have lived a day," he wrote in Book I
of his Essays, "you have seen everything. One day is equal to all
days. There is no other light, no other night. This sun, this
BIRTHDAYS TODAY
moon, these stars, the way they are arranged, all is the very
same your ancestors enjoyed and that will entertain your grand-
Svetlana Alliluyeva, author, daughter of Joseph Stalin, born at
children.
Moscow, USSR, Feb 28, 1926.
Mario Andretti, race car driver, born at Montona, Trieste, Italy,
MOON PHASE: LAST QUARTER. Feb 28. Moon enters Last
Feb 28, 1940.
Quarter phase at 3:08 P.M., EST.
Adrian Dantley, pro basketball player, born at Washington,
OLOF PALME: ASSASSINATION ANNIVERSARY. Feb 28.
D.C., Feb 28, 1956.
The popular prime minister of Sweden, Olof Palme, was shot to
Charles Durning, actor, born at Highland Falls, NY, Feb 28,
death on Feb 28, 1986, as he left a movie theatre in Stockholm
1923.
with his wife. A courageous and dominant figure in Swedish
Frank Gehry, architect, born at Toronto, Canada, Feb 28, 1929.
politics, Palme, an aristocrat turned socialist, had earned inter-
Gavin MacLeod, actor, born at Mount Kisco, NY, Feb 28, 1930.
national respect. On the day of his death he had signed (with five
Linus Pauling, chemist, educator, born at Portland, OR, Feb 28,
other world leaders) an appeal to the leaders of the United
1901.
States and the Soviet Union to forgo nuclear testing until the
Bernadette Peters, actress, singer, born at New York, NY, Feb
next summit meeting. Palme was born on Jan 30, 1927. He was
28, 1944.
the third European head of government to be assassinated since
Bubba Smith (Charles Aaron Smith), football player, born at
World War II (the others: Prime Minister Armand Calinescu of
Orange, TX, Feb 28, 1945.
Rumania in 1939 and Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco of
Tommy Tune, actor, singer, dancer, musical theater director,
Spain in 1973).
born at Wichita Falls, TX, Feb 28, 1939.
52
(Klugmann)
February 15, 1989
9:30 p.m.
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WELCOMING BANQUET TOAST
BEIJING, CHINA
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1989
Premier Li
President Yang, distinguished guests:
Barbara and I are delighted to be returning once again to
China. It's been 14 years since we made our home here, and over
these years, we've paid your remarkable country several visits.
And, each time we come, Barbara and I are fascinated by the
dynamic change and growth, all of which takes place against an
extraordinary, unchanging. backdrop of a great culture several
thousand years old.
There is a Chinese proverb that says "one generation plants
a tree, the next sits in its shade." And there is a timeless
wisdom in that. But thanks to your reforms -- courageous
reforms, and I don't minimize the difficulties -- the Chinese
people are planting great and sturdy trees some of which are
bearing fruit right now, for this generation.
Today, the people of China have more opportunities to
express themselves and to make important decisions in their
personal and professional lives. And your new and farsighted
economic program is already improving the lives of the people, as
it will for generations to come. And the expansion of your
international relationships is also creating new possibilities
for peace, prosperity, and world leadership, and the United
States welcomes the enlarged role that China has taken in the
world.
- 2 -
When Barbara and I first arrived in Beijing in 1975, it was
a period when our two countries were just beginning to renew
contact after almost a quarter century of estrangement and
hostility. It was not easy; there were great differences between
us. But in the principles of the historic Shanghai Communique,
signed 17 years ago this coming Tuesday, we found a common basis
for moving beyond those differences to find our shared interests.
So, together, we helped to plant a tree. And we should keep
planting trees.
We value the new relationship our two countries have
established with each other. Our friendship is continuing to
develop, and that is good. For a relationship must be strong
enough to tackle areas of disagreement as well as those of common
interest, and it must be based on respect for the individual as
well as the integrity of states.
We remain firmly committed to the principles set forth in
the three joint communiques that form the basis of our relations.
And based on the principle that there is but one China, we have
found ways to address without rancor the sensitive issue of
Taiwan. As my predecessor said when he came to China, we have a
long historical friendship with the Chinese people on Taiwan,
even as we have a new and important relationship with the
People's Republic of China. We believe that the deeply-rooted
differences that remain between the two sides of the Taiwan
Strait should be left to the Chinese people themselves to
peacefully resolve.
The United States and the People's Republic of China have
found common interest in a growing economic relationship in which
- 3 -
our two-way trade has increased from near zero to some $14
billion, and for this we must credit the reforms China embarked
upon ten years ago under Deng Xiaoping's farsighted leadership.
And we have seen greater exchanges in education as well,
with tens of thousands of Chinese students now studying in the
United States, just as thousands of U.S. scholars have studied
and taught in the farthest corners of China.
And we have developed an active program of military
cooperation that is forging ties of friendship between our
defense establishments, even as we have found a diplomatic unity
in our shared opposition to policies of international aggression
and domination.
Our two countries, as nuclear powers and as permanent
members of the U.N. Security Council, have a special
responsibility for preserving world peace. We owe it to mankind
to work together for peace and international stability.
The United States has pressed forward with the Soviet Union
in the arms reduction process, achieving under the I.N.F. Treaty
the elimination of intermediate-range nuclear missiles from Asia
as well as Europe. We are mindful of the danger posed to other
countries by the proliferation of deadly weapon technologies,
including chemical weapons, particularly in regions of the world
marked by conflict.
And we are pleased that improved relations between China and
the Soviet Union can contribute to the search for peace in
Cambodia and stability in Korea. I hope this is part of a larger
pattern of reduced global tensions. That would be in the
- 4 -
interest of China, of the Soviet Union, of the United States, of
East Asia, and of the world.
There can be little doubt that even as the people of our two
countries are watching this meeting, the world as a whole is
watching the larger movement of our two great Nations as we build
ever firmer bonds across the vast ocean that joins us.
Two centuries ago, just a few years after the United States
was established, the first American merchant ship sailed across
the Pacific to then distant China. Those early Americans found
an ancient culture, one which inspires and fascinates my
countrymen to this day. But today, in a world that has grown
smaller and at a time in which history progresses ever faster,
America also sees a China that is boldly moving toward the
future, releasing the enterprise and imagination of her citizens,
so that they can lead their Nation toward the great world role
that she is destined to play on the world stage.
Barbara and I are personally grateful for the friendship and
kindness that we have been shown over the years by the Chinese
people. And the expanding relationship between your country and
ours has been a source of satisfaction to us, as well. Let us
continue, then, to work together, to plant trees together, so
that the next generation, ours and yours, can sit together in the
shade.
So please let me ask you all to join me, and Barbara, in a
toast: To the health of President Yang; to the health of
Chairman Deng, general Secretary Zhao, and Premier Li; to
Barbara's and my dear close friends here tonight; and to
Sino-American friendship. Ganbei!
Chinese Proverbs
translated
by
Tin-yüke Char
(if 3£ F. if)
Jade Mountain Press
San Francisco
EREER GALLERY
U.
WASHINGTON, D.A.
isis
Calligraphy by Prof. Shao Chang Lee
Michigan State University
Published under the auspices of
Continental Hawaii Building Ltd.
Honolulu, Hawaii
Printed in 1970 by China Printing, Ltd.
177 Hsinyi Road, Sec. 2
Taipei, Taiwan
8
CHINESE PROVERBS
CHINESE PROVERBS
9
Cantonese
Hakka
Mandarin
English Equivalents
Cantonese
Hakka
Mandarin
English Equivalents
Hij
ch'in
ts'ien
ts'ien
}
forebears; predecessors
sinn
shan
shan
(a) good
1
yen
ngin
ren
ming
miang
ming
name
chung
chung
chung
plant
nan
nan
nan
(is) difficult
sue (suih)
shu
shu
trees
sing
shin
ch'eng
(to) establish; achieve
,
hau
heo
hou
}
descendants; successors
ok
ok
oh (or)
(news of) bad
yen
ngin
ren
si
si
shih
deeds
che (jieh)
cha (jah)
cheh (jer)
take cover
i (ee)
i (ee).
i (ee)
(is) easy
yem (yum)
yim
yim
(in the) shade
chuin
ch'uan
chuan
(to) circulate
0
O
One generation plants the tree, the next sits in its shade.
A good reputation is hard to establish, while news of evil
deeds is easily circulated.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
chau (jao)
tsiu
tsiu
wine
yuk (yook)
nyuk
ru
meat
suet
suot
shuo
saying
p'eng (pung)
p'eng
p'ien
yau
}
friends
wa
fa
hua (hwa)
words
yiu
yiu
wei
wui
wei
is
hung (hoong)
k'ung
k'ung
empty; airily
ch'ai
ts'ai
ts'ai
firewood
,
mei
mi
mi
rice
lok
lok
loh
jotting down
fu
fu
fu
husband
pet (butt)
pit
pi
(with) pen
ch'ei
ts'i
ts'i
(and) wife
wei
wui
wei
is
C
sed (sud)
shitt
shih
real; reality
Friends while good dinners last; husband and wife while fuel
and food remain.
Mere talk is empty; a written statement is concrete.
30
CHINESE PROVERBS
CHINESE PROVERBS
31
Cantonese
Hakka
Mandarin
English Equivalents
Cantonese
Hakka
Mandarin
English Equivalents
K
t'in
t'ien
t'ien
heaven
heng
hen
k'en
willing
is
yau
yiu
yiu
has
yen
yin
ren
(to) restrain
pet
put
pu
no
yet
yit
i
one
$00
ch'ek
ts'et
ts'eh
si
shi
shih
moment
predictable
fung
fung
chi (gee)
chi
chih (jih)
of
feng
wind
hei
hi
chii
wen
anger
yuen
yuin
(and) cloud
,
,
ho
k'o
k'oh
can
1
yen
ngin
ren
man
min
mien
mien
avoid
ti
yau
yiu
yiu
has
pak (bark)
pak
poh
hundred
A
tan
tan
tan
morning
B
yet
ngit
rib
days
chik
sip
chi
chi
chih
of
si
(and) night
THE
wo
yau
yiu
yiu
grief; sorrow
wo
WO
calamities
fuk
fuk
fu
(or) blessings
One who is willing to restrain a moment's anger will avoid a
hundred days' sorrow.
The fortunes of men are as uncertain as the weather.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
#
kwen
kuin
chuin (june)
gentleman;
it
chi
tzi
tzu
superior man
yuin
yen
yuan
distant
EX
shing
shin
ch'eng
perfects
sui
shui
shui
water
1
yen
ngin
ren
nan
nan
nan
difficult
chi
chi
chih
(a) man's
kau
kiu
chiu
(to) save
mei
mi; mui
in
ken
k'ioun
chin
near; closeby
mei
good qualities
fo
fo
huo
fire
pet
put
pu
not
yuin
yen
yuan
distant
EX
shing
shin
ch'eng
perfect
ch'en
ch'in
ch'in
relatives
1
yen
ngin
ren
pet
put
pu
not
chi
chi
chi
(a) man's
yue
ngi
ru
equal to; like
#
ok (ork)
ken
k'uin
chin
ok
nearby
oh (or)
bad qualities
lun
lin
lin
neighbors
A true gentleman seeks to perfect the admirable qualities of
Water far away will not extinguish a fire that is nearby; relatives
men, and does not seek to develop their bad faults.
far from you are not as good as neighbors close to you.
34
CHINESE PROVERBS
CHINESE PROVERBS
35
Cantonese
Hakka
Mandarin
English Equivalents
Cantonese
Hakka
Mandarin
English Equivalents
45
p'ing
p'ing
p'ing
}
in peace;
HI
pak
pak
po; pai
hundred
on
on
an
all's well
ngai
ngai
yi
skills
i
ngi
erh
two
pet
put
pu
not
chi
si
tzu
characters; words
yue
ngi
ru
equal (to); like
chik
chik
chih
yit
i
one
worth
yet
ch'in
ts'ien
ts'ien
thousand(s)
ngai
ngai
i
skill
kem
kim
chin
(of) gold
ching
chin
ching
mastered
The two words "in peace" are worth a thousand pieces of gold.
Better be a master of one trade than be a Jack of all trades.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
ming
yiong
yong
yang
raising
miang
ming
fame
i
ngi
erh
child
Fll
lei
li
li
(and) gain
ch'oi
ts'oi
ts'ai
then
i
ngi
erh
two
chi
di
chi
know
chi
si
tzu
words; characters
poe
pao
pao
repaying
si
si
shih
niong
ngiong
niang
mother's
fei
fi
fei
troubles; scandals
yen
en
en
affection; love
to
to
to
many; much
One has to raise children before he realizes gratitude for his
Fame and Gain have been the cause of many troubles.
mother.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
koon
kon
kuan
watching
k'au
k'iu
ch'iu
asking; begging
k'i
ch'i
chess game
1
k'ei
yen
ngin
ren
(a) person (for a favor)
pet
put
pu
not
yue
ngi
ru
(is) like
t'en
t'un
yue
ngi
yue
talking
t'un
swallowing
chen
chin
chen
(is) truly
sam
sam
san
three
ch'ek
kwen
kioun
chuin
ch'ak
ch'ih
foot; feet
}
gentleman;
kim
kiam
chi
tzi
tze
superior man
Gall
chien
sword
He is truly a gentleman who can watch a game of chess in
Asking a favor is like swallowing a three-foot sword.
silence.
(Klugmann)
February 17, 1989
4:00 p.m.
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: WELCOMING BANQUET TOAST
GREAT HALL OF THE PEOPLE
BEIJING, CHINA
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 1989
President Yang, Premier Li, distinguished guests:
Barbara and I are delighted to be returning once again to
China. It's been 14 years since we made our home here, and over
these years, we've paid your remarkable country several visits.
And, each time we come, Barbara and I are fascinated by the
dynamic change and growth, all of which takes place against an
extraordinary, unchanging backdrop of a great culture several
thousand years old.
There is a Chinese proverb that says "one generation plants
a tree, the next sits in its shade." And there is a timeless
wisdom in that. But thanks to your reforms -- courageous
reforms, and I don't minimize the difficulties -- the Chinese
people are planting great and sturdy trees some of which are
bearing fruit right now, for this generation.
Today, the people of China have more opportunities to
express themselves and to make important decisions in their
personal and professional lives. And your new and farsighted
economic program is already improving the lives of the people, as
it will for generations to come. And the expansion of your
international relationships is also creating new possibilities
for peace, prosperity, and world leadership, and the United
States welcomes the enlarged role that China has taken in the
world.
- 2 -
When Barbara and I first arrived in Beijing in 1975, it was
a period when our two countries were just beginning to renew
contact after almost a quarter century of estrangement and
hostility. It was not easy; there were great differences between
us. But in the principles of the historic Shanghai Communique,
signed 17 years ago this coming Monday, we found a common basis
for moving beyond those differences to find our shared interests.
So, together, we helped to plant a tree. And we should keep
planting trees.
We value the new relationship our two countries have
established with each other. Our friendship is continuing to
develop, and that is good. For a relationship must be strong
enough to tackle areas of disagreement as well as those of common
interest, and it must be based on respect for the individual as
well as the integrity of states.
We remain firmly committed to the principles set forth in
the three joint communiques that form the basis of our relations.
And based on the bedrock principle that there is but one China,
we have found ways to address without rancor the sensitive issue
of Taiwan. As my predecessor said when he came to China, we have
a long historical friendship with the Chinese people on Taiwan,
even as we have a new and important relationship with the
People's Republic of China. And in the last few years we have
seen an encouraging expansion of family contacts, travel,
indirect trade, and other forms of peaceful interchange across
the Strait, which has come not from outside pressure, but from
the interests of the Chinese people themselves. This trend --
this new environment -- is consistent with America's present and
- 3 -
long-standing interest in a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan
question by the Chinese themselves.
The United States and the People's Republic of China have
also found common interest in a growing economic relationship in
which our two-way trade has increased from near zero to some $14
billion, and for this we must credit the reforms China embarked
upon ten years ago under Chairman Deng Xiaoping's farsighted
leadership.
And we have seen greater exchanges in education as well,
with tens of thousands of Chinese students now studying in the
United States, just as thousands of U.S. scholars have studied
and taught in the farthest corners of China.
And we have developed an active program of military
cooperation that is forging ties of friendship between our
defense establishments, even as we have found a diplomatic unity
in our shared opposition to policies of international aggression
and domination.
Our two countries, as nuclear powers and as permanent
members of the U.N. Security Council, have a special
responsibility for preserving world peace. We owe it to mankind
to work together for peace and international stability.
The United States has pressed forward with the Soviet Union
in the arms reduction process, achieving under the I.N.F. Treaty
an agreement to eliminate U.S. and Soviet intermediate-range
nuclear missiles from Asia as well as Europe. We are mindful of
the danger posed to other countries by the proliferation of
deadly weapon technologies, including chemical weapons,
particularly in regions of the world marked by conflict.
- 4 -
And we are pleased that improved relations between China and
the Soviet Union may contribute to the search for
self-determination and peace for the Cambodian people and to
stability in Korea. I hope this is part of a larger pattern of
reduced global tensions. That would be in the interest of China,
of the Soviet Union, of the United States, of East Asia, and of
the world.
There can be little doubt that even as the people of our two
countries are watching this meeting, the world as a whole is
watching the larger movement of our two great Nations as we build
ever firmer bonds across the vast ocean that joins us.
Two centuries ago, just a few years after the United States
was established, the first American merchant ship sailed across
the Pacific to then distant China. Those early Americans found
an ancient culture, one which inspires and fascinates my
countrymen to this day. But today, in a world that has grown
smaller and at a time in which history progresses ever faster,
America also sees a China that is boldly moving toward the
future, releasing the enterprise and imagination of her citizens,
so that they can lead their nation toward the great role that she
is destined to play on the world stage.
Barbara and I are personally grateful for the friendship and
kindness that we have been shown over the years by the Chinese
people. And the expanding relationship between your country and
ours has been a source of satisfaction to us, as well. Let us
continue, then, to work together, to plant trees together, so
that the next generation, ours and yours, can sit together in the
shade.
- 5 -
So please let me ask you all to join me, and Barbara, in a
toast: To the health of President Yang; to the health of Premier
Li; to the health of Chairman Deng and General Secretary Zhao; to
Barbara's and my dear close friends here tonight; and to
Sino-American friendship. Ganbei!
Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984 / Apr. 26
ment of rewards for information concerning
matter of grave concern to national securi-
the unauthorized manufacture of atomic
ty. This Act, together with revised and
weapons, recognizes that payment of a
strengthened regulations that the Depart-
reward in connection with acts of domestic
ment of State intends to issue shortly, would
terrorism raises a matter of law enforce-
enhance the ability of the Department of
ment that is properly within the jurisdiction
Justice to prosecute persons involved in the
of the Attorney General, but that the pay-
support of terrorist activities and of states
ment of a reward in connection with an act
using terrorism. Enactment of this legisla-
of terrorism abroad poses = political and
tion would be a strong contribution to the
foreign relations problem within the juris-
effort to combat terrorism.
diction of the Secretary of State. By increas-
We must recognize that terrorism is
ing the amounts of fines that may be paid,
symptomatic of larger problems. We must
and by authorizing rewards for information
dedicate ourselves to fostering moderniza-
concerning terrorist acts committed abroad,
tion, development, and beneficial change in
this Act would markedly improve the abili-
the depressed areas of the world. We must
ty of the Departments of Justice and State
renew our commitment to promoting and
to obtain information leading to the freeing
assisting representative and participatory
of hostages or the capture of the perpetra-
governments. We must attack the problem
tors of acts of terrorism. In passing this leg-
of terrorism as a crime against the interna-
islation, the Congress can further under-
tional community whenever and wherever
score the intent of the United States to take
possible, but we must strive to eradicate the
every appropriate and necessary step to
sources of frustration and despair that are
protect its citizens and property from ter-
the spawning places and nutrients of terror-
rorist acts.
ism.
Prohibition Against the Training or Support
The legislative proposals that I am send-
of Terrorist Organizations Act of 1984
ing to the Congress today will, when ap-
proved, materially benefit our Nation and
The training and support of terrorist
help us to assist friendly countries. I believe
groups and activities by a number of coun-
that they are extraordinarily important, and
tries has reached alarming proportions. In
I strongly urge that the Congress undertake
addition, the number of states now using
their timely consideration and speedy pas-
terrorism as an instrument of foreign policy
sage.
is both increasing and highly disturbing.
The provision of assistance to countries that
RONALD REAGAN
support terrorism and use terrorism as a
The White House,
foreign policy tool has thus become a
April 26, 1984.
Toast at a Dinner Hosted by President Li Xiannian of China in
Beijing
April 26, 1984
President Li, Premier Zhao, distinguished
And might I add, this meal appears to be a
ladies and gentlemen, it's a pleasure to be
tribute to your culinary arts, as well.
here with you tonight. Nancy and I are most
You've made us feel welcome after a long
grateful for the warmth of the reception that
journey. And this, even more than the gran-
you've given us. I'm certain I speak for ev-
deur of the surroundings and the grace of
eryone in our entourage when I say we are
the meal, is appreciated.
overwhelmed by the loveliness of this hall,
the gardens. The setting is certainly a tribute
Premier Zhao's recent trip to the United
to the richness and depth of your culture.
States and our visit, as well, demonstrate
Topot At Welcoming Bonquet
577
Tonst in Honor of Premier Zhno P. P. 391 Holded page) page)
584
(flded
Apr. 26 / Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984
how technological leaps in communications
whole, have determined that what we have
and transportation are changing our per-
in common, what we can accomplish work-
ceptions of the world. Yet, even as technol-
ing and building together, is vastly more
ogy catapults us into the future, making
significant than those things that separate
possible in our travel that once took months
us. This, of course, does not mean progress
or even years, ancient truths are recon-
will be easy. Few things worthwhile ever
firmed. Many centuries ago, Wang Po, a
happen without commitment and effort by
famous Chinese poet-philosopher, wrote,
good people. We can be proud, considering
"Although we reside in far corners of the
our differences, of how much has already
world, having a good friend is akin to
been accomplished.
having a good neighbor."
If you'll permit me, we believe even
The essence of that observation is as true
greater progress can be made if our future
today as it was when it was penned. In that
efforts are based on hu jing hu hui-mutual
spirit, President Li, I come to China repre-
respect and mutual benefit. If we have the
senting the sincere desire of the American
will to live up to it, hu jing hu hui can
people to be good neighbors to the Chinese
make our countries more prosperous and
people.
more secure. It can keep us friends, even
It was just 200 years ago when the first
while recognizing that we do not totally
American merchant ship called on a Chi-
agree on some things which we believe im-
nese port. Two hundred years seems like
portant. There is every reason for optimism
the blink of an eye to Chinese civilization;
about the continuing peaceful evolution of
yet, for Americans, this spans almost the
relations between our two countries.
entire history of our Republic. Looking
back, President Li, we can see that at times
I would hope in the not too distant future
the relationship between our two nations
that you, President Li, as I have already
was not what it should have been. But
expressed to you earlier, will come and be
thanks to the hard work and determination
our guest in the United States, so that you
can meet and talk with the American
of farsighted leaders of both of our coun-
tries during the last 12 years, our future is
people.
bright with potential.
Nancy and I are now looking forward
There are differences between us, yes,
with great anticipation to the rest of our
differences that should be neither glossed
visit to your country. We're especially
over nor dented-denied, I should say. Yet
pleased to see Premier Zhao again. I'm also
we, the people of China and the United
eager to make the personal acquaintance of
States, share a sincere desire for peace and
Chairman Deng and General Secretary Hu.
prosperity, and we understand that by
This, our first day, was even more gratify-
working together, emphasizing our areas of
ing than expected. Meeting you and having
agreement, everyone will benefit.
the opportunity for open and constructive
Premier Zhao's visit to the United States
dialog was an excellent way to inaugurate
was the first visit ever by a Chinese Pre-
this trip.
mier. And now this marks the first visit by
During our stay, Nancy and I hope to see
an American President since our countries
and learn much about China and its people.
formally established diplomatic relations in
The history, the beauty, and the culture of
1979.
your country is legend throughout the
The travel of government leaders is sym-
world. I first learned about it as a boy in a
bolic of the surge of activity, of the ex-
small school in the farm country of Amer-
change and cooperation going on between
ica. I never dreamed back then that I'd
our peoples at all levels. Whether in com-
have the opportunity to come and see these
merce, the arts, science, or industry, our
things for myself.
citizens are establishing personal bonds of
Now, as I suggested a moment ago, tech-
trust and friendship that mirror the good
nology has made us neighbors. Neighbors
will found at the highest levels.
are not family, but they can be dear and
This healthy intercourse is encouraged
trusted friends. And that is the spirit I sense
because our countries, our people as a
already. It's something upon which weighty
578
Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984 / Apr. 26
accomplishments can be built. In that spirit,
Note: The President spoke at 7:30 p.m. at
I invite all of you to join me in a toast.
Yang Yuan Hall in response to a toast by
To your health, Mr. President, and that of
President Li.
Mrs. Li, and to the health of Premier Zhao
In his opening remarks, the President also
and of China's other distinguished leaders,
referred to Premier Zhao Ziyang.
and to further success in advancing the re-
lations of our two countries.
Remarks to Chinese Community Leaders in Beijing, China
April 27, 1984
Thank you very much, Dr. Zhou Peiyuan,
never minimize them. But let us not be
and all of you distinguished ladies and gen-
dominated by them.
tlemen. I'm honored to come before you
I have not come to China to hold forth on
today, the first American President ever to
what divides us, but to build on what binds
address your nation from the Great Hall of
us. I have not come to dwell on a closed-
the People.
door past, but to urge that Americans and
My wife, Nancy, and I have looked for-
Chinese look to the future, because togeth-
ward to visiting the people and treasures of
er we can and will make tomorrow a better
your great and historic land, one of the
day.
world's oldest civilizations. We have mar-
When Premier Zhao was in the United
veled at Beijing's sweeping vistas, and we
have felt the warmth of your hospitality
States, he told us, "China has opened its
touch our hearts. We only regret that our
door and will never close it again." Permit
visit will be so brief. I'm afraid it will be as
me to assure you today, America's door is
a Tang Dynasty poet once wrote, "looking
open to you, and when you walk through,
at the flowers while riding horseback." But
we'll welcome you as our neighbors and our
friends.
you have another saying from the book of
Han which describes how Nancy and I feel:
We may live at nearly opposite ends of
"To see a thing once is better than hearing
the world. We may be distinctly different in
about it a hundred times."
language, customs, and political beliefs. But
Twelve years ago former President Nixon
on many vital questions of our time, there is
arrived in Beijing, stepped down from Air
little difference between the American and
Force One, and shook hands with former
Chinese people. Indeed, I believe if we
Premier Zhou Enlai. Premier Zhou would
were to ask citizens all over this world what
later tell him, "Your handshake came over
they desire most for their children, and for
the vastest ocean in the world-25 years of
their children's children, their answer, in
no communication." With one handshake,
English, Chinese, or any language, would
America and China each turned a new page
likely be the same: We want peace. We
in their histories.
want freedom. We want a better life. Their
I believe that history beckons again. We
dreams, so simply stated, represent man-
have begun to write a new chapter for
kind's deepest aspirations for security and
peace and progress in our histories with
personal fulfillment. And helping them
America and China going forward hand in
make their dreams come true is what our
hand-xieshou bingjin [walk together hand
jobs are all about.
in hand].
We can work together as equals in a spirit
We must always be realistic about our
of mutual respect and mutual benefit. I be-
relationship, frankly acknowledging the fun-
lieve in Chinese you say hu jing hu hui.
damental differences in ideology and insti-
Well, America and China are both great
tutions between our two societies. Yes, let
nations. And we have a special responsibil-
us acknowledge those differences. Let us
ity to preserve world peace.
579
Apr. 26 / Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984
To help fulfill that responsibility, the
our history with a description of our coun-
United States is rebuilding its defenses,
try, the importance and necessity of a trade
which had been neglected for more than a
here to the advantage of both, which they
decade. Our people realize this effort is cru-
appear perfectly to understand and wish."
cial if we're to deter aggression against
Well, since those early days, our countries
America, our allies, and other friends. But
have both profited from the exchange of
we threaten no nation. America's troops are
people, goods, and ideas. Chinese settlers
not massed on China's borders. And we
helped tame our continent during the 19th
occupy no lands. The only foreign land we
century. Today their families' descendants
occupy anywhere in the world is beneath
join other Americans in cooperating with
gravesites where Americans shed their
you to build a new prosperity in China.
blood for peace and freedom. Nor do we
How did America, which began as an im-
commit wanton acts, such as shooting 269
innocent people out of the sky for the so-
poverished country and a melting pot, at-
called cause of sacred airspace.
tracting immigrants from every corner of
America and China both condemn mili-
the globe, pull together and become the
tary expansionism, the brutal occupation of
leading economic nation in the world? How
Afghanistan, the crushing of Kampuchea;
did we go in so short a time from living by
and we share a stake in preserving peace
candlelight to exploring the frontiers of the
on the Korean peninsula.
universe by satellite, from each farmer la-
I think our two peoples agree there can
boring with horse and hoe for an entire
be only one sane policy to preserve our
year just to feed four people, to running his
precious civilization in this modern nuclear
farm with the most modern machinery and
age: A nuclear war cannot be won and must
producing enough to feed 75 people,
never be fought. And that's why we've pro-
making America the breadbasket of the
posed to the Soviet Union meaningful nego-
world?
tiations that go beyond rhetoric to actual
Well, we're people who've always be-
arms reductions and why we must all work
lieved the heritage of our past is the seed
for the day when nuclear weapons will be
that brings forth the harvest of our future.
banished from the face of the Earth.
And from our roots we have drawn tremen-
America's interest in China, our friend-
dous power from two great forces: faith and
ship for your people, and our respect for
freedom. America was founded by people
China's many contributions to the progress
who sought freedom to worship God and to
of civilization date back to the beginning of
trust in Him to guide them in their daily
our own history. You might be interested to
lives with wisdom, strength, goodness, and
know that personal dinner settings used by
compassion.
our first three Presidents-George Washing-
Our passion for freedom led to the Amer-
ton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson-
ican Revolution, the first great uprising for
were of Chinese origin, evidence of our
human rights and independence against co-
Founding Fathers attraction for your coun-
lonial rule. We knew each of us could not
try's high artistic standards.
enjoy liberty for ourselves unless we were
Back in 1784, when the first American
willing to share it with everyone else. And
trading ship, the Empress of China, entered
we knew our freedom could not truly be
your waters, my country was unknown to
safe unless all of us were protected by a
you. We were a new republic, eager to win
body of laws that treated us equally.
a place in international commerce. A slight-
George Washington told us we would be
ly homesick American sailor recorded that
bound together in a sacred brotherhood of
first day in a letter home.
free men. Abraham Lincoln defined the
"My dear father," he wrote, "if ever you
heart of American democracy when he said,
receive this letter, it will acquaint you, that
"No man is good enough to govern another
after a passage of 6 months and 7 days we
man without that other's consent.
came to anchor at Wampoo
The Chi-
These great principles have nourished the
nese had never heard of us, but we intro-
soul of America, and they have been en-
duced ourselves as a new nation, gave them
riched by values such as the dignity of
580
Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984 / Apr. 26
work, the friendship of neighbors, and the
nomic community and your determination
warmth of family. Like China, our people
to modernize your economy and raise the
see the future in the eyes of our children.
standard of living of your people.
And like China, we revere our elders. To be
Unlike some governments which fear
as good as our fathers and mothers, we
change and fear the future, China is begin-
must be better.
ning to reach out toward new horizons, and
"Trust the people"-these three words
we salute your courage.
are not only the heart and soul of American
"Progress," Premier Zhao has told us,
history but the most powerful force for
"lies in our efforts to emancipate our think-
human progress in the world today. Those
ing in a bold way-to carry out reform with
who ignore this vital truth will condemn
determination, to make new inventions
their countries to fall farther and farther
with courage, and to break with the eco-
behind in the world's competition for eco-
nomic molds and conventions of all descrip-
nomic leadership in the 1980's and beyond,
tions which fetter the development of the
because look around us, the societies that
productive force." Well, we Americans have
have made the most spectacular progress in
always considered ourselves pioneers, so we
the shortest period of time are not the most
appreciate such vitality and optimism.
rigidly organized nor even the richest in
Today I bring you a message from my
natural resources. No, it's where people
countrymen. As China moves forward in
have been allowed to create, compete, and
this new path, America welcomes the op-
build, where they've been permitted to
portunity to walk by your side.
think for themselves, make economic deci-
sions, and benefit from their own risks, that
Incidentally, I know Premier Zhao has
demonstrated mastery of his subject. When
societies have become the most prosperous,
he was directing agricultural policies in Si-
progressive, dynamic, and free. Nothing
could be more basic to the spirit of progress
chuan, the peasants went from food short-
for a farmer, laborer, or merchant than eco-
ages and forced imports to bumper harvests
nomic reward for legitimate risk and honest
and rising exports. In fact, I'm told that
because of the work he did, it is said in
toil.
A little over a century ago, Ulysses S.
Sichuan Province, "If you want rice, go see
Zhao."
Grant, who was then a former President,
visited your country and saw China's great
Well, China's growth is in China's hands.
potential. "I see dawning
Grant
You will choose your own path to develop-
wrote, "the beginning of a change. When it
ment. But we're not surprised to see the
does come, China will rapidly become a
fresh breezes of incentives and innovation
powerful and rich nation
The popula-
sweeping positive changes across China.
tion is industrious, frugal, intelligent, and
And behind the statistics of economic
quick to learn."
growth are reports of personal success sto-
Well, today, China's economy crackles
ries pointing to a new spirit of progress.
with the dynamics of change: expansion of
Chairman Deng has a saying, "Seek truth
individual incentives for farmers in your
from facts." Well, today in China, the reali-
new responsibility system; new bonuses for
ty of more small enterprises doing a thriv-
workers and more disciplined management
ing business, more families profiting from
in terms of profits and losses; improved
their own hard work and the bigger har-
methods of market distribution; opening
vests they produce, and more investment in
your economy to the world through China's
science and technology points to more op-
membership in the International Monetary
portunity for all. President John Kennedy
Fund, the World Bank, and through your
often used a metaphor to describe such
invitation to trade and invest, especially in
progress: "A rising tide lifts all boats."
your four Special Economic Zones; and
In the United States, as I mentioned earli-
your commitment to attract capital and sci-
er, we've always believed deeply that in-
entific knowledge to create a high technolo-
centives are key and that free people build
gy base for the future. All this reflects
free markets that ignite dynamic develop-
China's new role in the international eco-
ment for everyone. For a time, America's
581
Apr. 26 / Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984
government had drifted away from this key
flects my determination that China be
principle, and our economic growth suf-
treated as a friendly, nonallied nation and
fered.
that the United States be fully prepared to
When we took office, in January 1981, we
cooperate in your modernization.
said to the people, "Let us make a new
During Premier Zhao's visit to our coun-
beginning. From now on, if you work
try, we took another step forward, signing
harder and earn more than before, your
the United States-China Industrial and
reward will be greater than it was. We're
Technological Cooperation Accord. Our
putting America's future in your hands. You
Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade
can spark the spirit of enterprise. You can
will discuss implementation of the Accord
get America moving again." And they have.
during their next meeting in. Washington in
In 3 short years, the American people
May. We will focus our efforts on the sec-
have revived a dynamic growth economy
tors to which China has attached greatest
bolstered by incentives of lower tax rates,
priority. Our trade and development pro-
stable prices, reduced interest rates, a re-
gram will facilitate our progress.
birth of productivity, and restored confi-
Expanding cooperative ventures is an-
dence in our currency.
other area of promising growth: American
Hope is high. Confidence is strong. Amer-
firms have invested almost $700 million in
ica's future looks bright again. With a strong
joint ventures and offshore oil exploration
technological base, pioneering sunrise in-
in China, making the United States your
dustries and modernizing older ones, the
United States is beginning an economic ren-
largest foreign investor. We welcome your
determination to improve conditions for
aissance and helping pull other nations
toward worldwide recovery.
foreign business in China. Streamlining bu-
I see America and our Pacific neighbors
reaucratic procedures, establishing a more
going forward in a mighty enterprise to
predictable system for investment through
build strong economies and a safer world.
domestic legislation and international agree-
The United States and China have an his-
ments, reforming prices to make them
toric opportunity. We can expand our eco-
internationally competitive, and providing
nomic and scientific cooperation, strength-
foreign business people with the offices,
en the ties between our peoples, and take
housing, and schools they and their families
an important step toward peace and a
need to work effectively, will stimulate
better life. And there is much we can share.
more American investment.
We think progress in four areas is particu-
For your part, some 50 Chinese firms
larly promising: trade, technology, invest-
have established offices or branches in the
ment, and exchanges of scientific and mana-
United States, and China has invested in
gerial expertise.
several joint ventures in our country.
In a few short years, two-way trade has
We intend to strengthen these trends.
risen sharply. The United States is now
When Treasury Secretary Regan was here
China's third largest trading partner. Our
last month for the meeting of the Joint Eco-
bilateral trade shows great promise for the
nomic Committee, he concluded a bilateral
future, particularly in areas such as machin-
tax agreement. Monday, our two countries
ery, technology, oil equipment, petroleum,
will sign this agreement, which, I'm pleased
agricultural and manufacturing products.
to report, will increase incentives for even
Last June, I instructed our government to
closer cooperation between American and
liberalize controls over the export to China
Chinese firms. And we're continuing to
of high technology products, such as com-
work toward conclusion of bilateral agree-
puters and laboratory instruments. Our poli-
ments on greater investment protection
cies on technology transfer will continue to
and many other areas of cooperation.
evolve along with our overall relationship
I am particularly proud that the United
and the development of broader coopera-
States and China have reached agreement
tion between us. May I emphasize to the
on cooperation in the peaceful uses of
members of the scientific community here
atomic energy. As many of you know, the
today: The relaxing of export controls re-
negotiations between our two countries go
582
Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984 / Apr. 26
back almost to the beginning of my admin-
program there offering a full 3-year mas-
istration. We have held a total of six sessions
ter's degree in business administration. The
in Washington and Beijing. We made great
degree will be awarded by the State Uni-
progress during Premier Zhao's visit, and
versity of New York. We're to share with
our negotiations have just now concluded
you the knowledge that is America's key
successfully. The result: an agreement for
technology-management and science skills
cooperation in peaceful uses of nuclear
to develop a nation.
energy.
Under our Joint Commission on Science
I understand that several of the people
and Technology, we have a very productive
here made major contributions to this
agreement with exchange programs in 21
effort, which meets the requirements of
specific areas. We're sharing the benefits of
both sides. Once approval is complete, it
research in medicine, energy, and other
will open broad opportunities for joint work
technical fields. Our scientists are learning a
in development of the energy base which
great deal from each other in public health,
China needs for her modernization. Scien-
agricultural sciences, and many other areas.
tists, engineers, business leaders, and offi-
Men and women of vision already see
cials of both countries interested in peaceful
that working in the zero gravity environ-
nuclear energy will welcome this agree-
ment of space offers dazzling opportunities
ment. China has one of the world's most
to improve life on Earth. Experiments done
ambitious programs for expansion of elec-
on our space shuttle have shown that life-
tric power generation, and I believe that
saving medicines can be manufactured in
America's energy technology-not just in
space with four times the purity of the
nuclear energy but across the board-is
same medicines on Earth. And they can be
second to none, and perhaps most suitable
made over 400 times more rapidly, so 1
for China's varied needs.
month's production of medicines in space
Our agreement is founded on important
nonproliferation standards. We have no-
yields as much as 30 years' production on
ticed recent statements of China's nonpro-
the ground.
liferation policies, particularly those by Pre-
We also look forward to being able to
mier Zhao in Washington and Beijing over
manufacture large crystals of exceptional
the past several months. Premier Zhao and
purity in space. These crystals are the basis
I have discussed these matters directly. I
of the semiconductor chips which run
can tell you that our countries share the
modern computers. By manufacturing them
same basic principles of preserving world
in zero gravity, we can make new strides
peace and preventing the destabilizing
toward producing larger, faster computers,
spread of nuclear explosives. Neither of us
the so-called supercomputers, and ultimate-
will encourage proliferation nor assist any
ly reduce the cost of computer manufactur-
other country to acquire or develop any
ing. We look forward to exploring with
nuclear explosive device. Our cooperation
China the possibilities of cooperating in the
in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy will
development of space on behalf of all our
be based on shared principles of nonprolif-
fellow citizens.
eration.
In the humanities and social sciences,
There is also great potential in our joint
hundreds of American and Chinese scholars
efforts to increase managerial and scientific
have visited each others' countries to teach
expertise. I know that many of you have
and study subjects ranging from law and
heard through the Chinese press about the
economics to poetry and history. For our
good work of the 9-month Dalian program
part, we welcome this new Pacific tide. Let
of management training for industry, sci-
it roll peacefully on, carrying a two-way
ence, and technology. More than 750 grad-
flow of people and ideas that can break
uates have received training in modern
down barriers of suspicion and mistrust, and
methods of industrial management. And I'm
build up bonds of cooperation and shared
told some of you are graduates of that pro-
optimism.
gram. Well, I'm delighted to announce that
The future is ours to build. Surmounting
we have agreed to establish a special new
the risks and the fears of some may be diffi-
583
Apr. 26 / Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984
cult, but I'm convinced the challenge is
schools all across America. Earlier this year,
worth it. The greatest victories come when
Premier Zhao visited the school. This
people dare to be great, when they
summer the entire class will come to China
summon their spirits to brave the unknown
as his guests to meet their student contem-
and go forward together to reach a greater
poraries.
good.
From the great grief of one boy's death
So often, we see individual actions of
came a seed. And from that seed has grown
courage and love in everyday life that give
a tree of understanding, a tree that now
us faith to believe in ourselves and hope for
blossoms with the beauty of friendship and
cooperation. If our people could go forward
a better future. In 1981 a bright, young
in this same spirit, planting not one tree,
American student, John Zeidman, came
but millions, and then tending each so it
here to study China and to seek new
may grow sturdy and tall-then the dream
friends. He was a boy of great heart and
of a single youth might grow into the
enthusiasm, and riding his bicycle on Beij-
golden dreams of all mankind.
ing's streets, conversing and camping with
Thank you very much.
artists and students, he fell in love with
your country. Tragically, he was struck ill
Note: The President spoke at 1:20 p.m. in
on his 20th birthday and later died. But his
the auditorium at the Great Hall of the
tragedy brought forth new life.
People. Zhou Peiyuan, a Chinese scientist,
John's family and friends have established
hosted the event, which was attended by
a Chinese studies program at the Sidwell
Chinese citizens who either have been in-
Friends School in Washington. Hundreds
volved in the various aspects of U.S.-China
have contributed, and the program now at-
cooperation directly related to China's mod-
tracts young people from public and private
ernization program or who study Sino-U.S.
schools and serves as a model for other
relations.
Toast at a Welcoming Banquet Hosted by Premier Zhao Ziyang of
China in Beijing
April 27, 1984
Premier Zhao, ladies and gentlemen, since
good will you experienced, just as I enjoyed
we arrived yesterday, the graciousness with
from your people today, confirmed to you
which we have been received has been truly
that our citizens want our countries to work
heartwarming. A Chinese proverb best de-
in harmony.
scribes my feelings: "When the visitor ar-
The American and Chinese Governments
rives, it is as if returning home."
have responded to that wish in a series of
Having already known Premier Zhao, one
formal communiques which set forth the
of the purposes of my visit was to make
fundamental principles of our relationship-
new friends. But I find, especially after
the 1972 Shanghai communique, the Janu-
meeting President Li and General Secre-
ary 1, 1979, communique establishing diplo-
tary Hu, that instead of making friends, I
matic relations, and the August 17, 1982,
am among friends.
communique negotiated by my administra-
Mr. Premier, this has been a stimulating
tion.
day. Much was accomplished, not the least
Mr. Premier, by any accounting the coop-
of which was the renewal of the personal
eration between China and the United
rapport we established during your memo-
States already has been a boon to our
rable visit to the United States. Your visit
people. We have both gained. In the last
permitted you to judge for yourself the in-
few years, two-way trade has taken off.
tentions of the American people. I hope the
There has been a veritable explosion of stu-
584
Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984 / Apr. 27
dent, science, business, and tourist ex-
years, just as you are rightfully proud of the
changes between our peoples. Joint business
enormous contributions Chinese civilization
ventures which profit all concerned are
has made to mankind.
multiplying.
As China moves forward to modernize
We would be less than candid if we mini-
and develop its economy, the United States
mized the significance of the benefits we
is eager to join in a cooperative effort to
each receive from our good relations.
share the American capabilities that helped
Standing together, we can expand the trade
turn our country from a vast wilderness into
and commercial ties that increase the qual-
an industrial giant. Those American capa-
ity of life in both countries. Standing to-
bilities flow from the creative enterprise
gether, we can further peace and security.
our society encourages. Our progress is
Great nations, if adversaries, cannot draw
based on what we have found to work. If it
from each other's strength.
did not work, the American people, who
The commitment to stand as friends has
are pragmatic by nature, would likely have
been made. The promise is solid. The chal-
abandoned it long ago.
lenges that remain, however, will take both
China today, I understand, is taking its
patience and mutual understanding. I have
own practical approach. By increasing in-
suggested and, with your permission, say
centives and decentralizing decision-
again this evening: Let us use as our guide
making, you are promoting innovation, cre-
the principle of hu jing hu hui-mutual
respect, mutual benefit. This principle has
ativity, and a better ability to adapt to local
conditions. The responsibility system in ag-
within it both dignity and fairness.
Another source from which to draw is our
riculture has spurred increases in food pro-
knowlege of each other, a well of familiarity
duction throughout China, and the special
which increases in depth with every passing
economic zones are providing dramatic ex-
day.
amples of how incentives can raise produc-
We are each working hard to learn more
tivity and offer bountiful opportunities for a
better life.
about the delicate and detailed workings of
the other's system-ours with its complex
In your drive for modernization, you
legal procedures based on the separation of
have our best wishes. If you ask our advice,
powers, and yours with its own intricate
we can only answer with truth as we see it.
patterns. Insights into why and how deci-
But let me assure you, we want you to suc-
sions are made can help both of us appreci-
ceed. Having 1 billion people-nearly a
ate our agreements and accept in good faith
quarter of mankind-healthy, well fed,
our disagreements.
clothed, and housed, educated, and given
From what we see, Premier Zhao, my
the opportunity for a higher standard of
countrymen are enthused by what is hap-
living, is in the interest of good and decent
pening in China. Your modernization pro-
people everywhere. It is certainly in the
gram, an ambitious undertaking, makes our
interest of the American people, who wish
future relationship even more promising.
to trade and be friends with the Chinese
You are striving to quadruple your produc-
people.
tion by the year 2000, and the eyes of the
Premier Zhao, as we're all well aware,
world are watching as you progress on this
our cooperation is based on more than
peaceful and productive course. The Ameri-
simply the desire to improve our econo-
can people wish you success and offer you
mies. Today the peace of the world is
our cooperation in this great endeavor.
threatened by a major power that is focus-
Americans, more than others, admire
ing its resources and energies not on eco-
those who set great goals and strive to im-
nomic progress but, instead, on military
prove their lot. When that first American
power.
merchant ship set sail for China 200 years
The shift in military might of the last
ago, our Forefathers were citizens of a
decade has made trust and friendship be-
weak republic living in an unexplored and
tween us even more vital. I know it is your
undeveloped land. We Americans are proud
desire, and that of the United States as well,
of our accomplishments in these last 200
that peace be preserved. We seek to better
585
Apr. 27 / Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984
the quality of life of our people, and that
Many of us in this room have seen much
can be done only in a peaceful environ-
history in our lifetime. My own lifetime
ment. War is the great destroyer of all the
spans one-third of the history of the Ameri-
hopes of mankind.
can Republic. Over the many years that
To preserve the peace and protect our
God has permitted me to live, I have ob-
own sovereignty and independence, we
served the changing nature of the relation-
stand together in opposing expansionism
ship between our two countries.
and hegemony. We stand together in sup-
At times, our feelings toward each other
port of the independence of Afghanistan
were hostile and negative. Today, we have
and Kampuchea. Both of us seek to pro-
the opportunity to keep our countries on a
mote peace and reconciliation through
path of genuine good will that will reap
dialog between South and North on the
rewards for generations to come. Let us not
Korean Peninsula. Both of us seek the early
shy from the task. It will not be easy; yet,
independence of Namibia and an end to
let us move forward so that someday when
outside interference in the affairs of south-
the young people of our countries reach a
ern Africa. Although our prescriptions for
ripe old age, they will look back, and there
getting there are quite different, we share a
will be no memory of a time when there
common desire for a resolution of the tur-
was anything else but friendship and good
moil in the Middle East and Central Amer-
feelings between the Chinese and American
ica. Both of us seek an end to the use of
people. That is a gift we can give to them.
chemical weapons and agree on the necessi-
In our shared spirit of friendship, peace,
ty of reducing nuclear arms.
and cooperation, I am delighted to note
A strong China, dedicated to peace, clear-
that both President Li and General Secre-
ly is in the best interest of international
tary Hu have accepted our invitation to
stability and in the best interest of the
visit the United States. We look forward to
United States. A robust and enduring
reciprocating the warm hospitality that
friendship will bolster the security of both
we've been shown in your beautiful coun-
our countries without compromising the in-
try.
dependence of either. It will be the trust
And in that same spirit, permit me, Pre-
between us that will keep us and the world
mier Zhao, to propose a toast. To your
at peace. In this, let us be of the same
health, Mr. Premier, to the health of Presi-
mind. And as a saying from "The Book of
dent and Mrs. Li who so graciously acted as
Changes" goes, "If two people are of the
our hosts yesterday, to the health of Chair-
same mind, their sharpness can cut through
man Deng, General Secretary Hu, and the
metal."
other distinguished Chinese citizens it is my
It is the hope and prayer of the American
privilege to meet this week, and to the
people that someday there will no longer
friendship and cooperation between our
be a need for our nation to use any of its
two countries.
resources to produce weapons of any kind.
The Chinese and American people are now
Note: The President spoke at 7:23 p.m. in
showing the world by our example that
the Banquet Hall at the Great Hall of the
there is a better way than hatred and vio-
People in response to a toast by Premier
lence.
Zhao.
Statement by Principal Deputy Press Secretary Speakes on the
Broadcast of the President's Remarks to Chinese Leaders
April 28, 1984
On Thursday we were informed by the
Foreign Affairs that Chinese Central Televi-
Information Department of the Ministry of
sion would carry the President's Friday
586
Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984 / Apr. 28
speech to Chinese leaders in full in a taped
seek in our relationship with the People's
program in prime-time evening television
Republic.
Friday night. Late in the day Friday, Mr. Qi
The Chinese Government, which controls
Huaiyuan, Director of the Information De-
information in the country, has given the
partment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
President extensive news coverage; certain-
advised me that portions of the speech deal-
ly more than we would consider likely for
ing with the Soviet Union would not be
most foreign leaders visiting the United
broadcast.
States. The decision to delete material from
Last night we learned that the broadcast
also omitted several other segments of the
the President's speech from the Chinese
television broadcast and from other Chinese
speech, including key passages dealing with
news media is an internal matter for the
the President's view of values that Ameri-
cans cherish, including religion and democ-
Chinese to decide, and we understand that.
racy. We had made it clear to the Chinese
We, nevertheless, regret the fact that state-
Government prior to the trip that we
ments by the President which would have
hoped for an opportunity for the President
given the Chinese people a better under-
to communicate with the Chinese people
standing of our country and its people were
on the American approach to world affairs,
not included in Chinese media coverage of
its bases in our system, and the goals we
the speech.
Interview With Representatives of Chinese Central Television in
Beijing, China
April 28, 1984
Q. Mr. President, this year marks the bi-
have touched our hearts. Our only regret is
centennial of the beginning of Sino-U.S.
our visit will be so brief. It's a little like, as a
contacts and the fifth anniversary of the
Tang Dynasty poet once wrote, "looking at
establishment of diplomatic relations be-
the flowers while riding on horseback." But
tween China and the United States. Mr.
I mentioned at the Great Hall yesterday
President, this visit at this time is, therefore,
that you have another saying from the book
of exceptional significance. This is your first
of Han that describes how Nancy and I feel:
visit to China. Would you please, Mr. Presi-
"To see a thing once is better than hearing
dent, tell us your impression of the visit?
about it a hundred times."
The President. Well, thank you, and may I
Our visit this year marks the 200th anni-
say how pleased I am to visit your great and
versary since the first American merchant
historic country. As a boy going to school in
ship called at a Chinese port. Two hundred
a small town in our Midwest, I used to
years for your civilization seems like the
dream of coming here. In those days China
blink of an eye, but for Americans they
seemed a million miles away, and today
span the entire history of our Republic. Yes,
modern jet travel gives us the privilege of
your country is old while ours is young, and,
seeing China, meeting your hard-working
yes, we speak different languages, have dif-
people and learning more about the
ferent customs, and our governments hold
progress that you're making, and visiting
different political beliefs. But I believe if
the many treasures of your civilization-one
you could look beyond labels and into the
of the oldest in the world.
homes and hearts of our people, you'd find
Permit me first to thank you on behalf of
they share many basic values, values with
Nancy and myself for the warmth of your
your own-values like the dignity of work,
welcome. We journey to your country to
the importance of opportunity, the love and
make friends, but already you've made us
strength of family, reverence for elders, the
feel that we are among friends, and you
dream of leaving a better life for our chil-
587
Apr. 28 / Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984
dren and our children's children, and finally
should take to promote the further develop-
our simple, heartfelt desire to be friends
ment of Sino-U.S. relations?
and to live together in peace.
The President. Well, we've taken a
Americans are people of peace. It's im-
number already. The progress that we have
portant you know that. We pose no threat
made with regard to trade agreements, that
to China or any nation. We have no troops
we're discussing right now with regard to
massed on your borders. We occupy no
protecting your people and ours against
lands. After World War II, we were the
double taxation. We have arrived at an
only undamaged industrial power, the only
agreement on nuclear cooperation for
nation to harness the atom, and the only
peaceful energy, and at the same time we
people with the power to conquer the
have agreed to prevent as much as we can
world. But we didn't conquer anybody. We
by ourselves nuclear proliferation of weap-
used our power to write a new chapter in
ons to other countries.
history by helping rebuild the war-ravaged
But we've had, I believe, five members of
economies of both friends and foes. We love
our Cabinet here in the last several months
peace, and we cherish freedom, because
meeting with their counterparts in your
we've learned time and again in place after
government, working out everything from
place that economic growth and human
commerce and trade relations. Our Secre-
progress make their greatest strides when
tary of Defense has been here, our Secre-
people are secure and free to think, speak,
tary of State. We're discussing energy prob-
worship, choose their own way, and reach
lems.
for the stars.
We admire the progress your government
So, we'll continue along that path, finding
has made in opening China's economy to
all these areas of agreement and coopera-
the world and in providing more opportuni-
tion. And, as I say, we've made great
ties for your people to better their lives.
progress already.
And we've told your leaders that as the
Q. Mr. President, both you and the Chi-
world's leading economy, the United States
nese leaders have expressed the desire for
welcomes the chance to walk by China's
further development of Sino-U.S. relations.
side, sharing our technology and encourag-
Everyone knows that the issue of Taiwan is
ing a greater flow of people, products, and
a major obstacle to the development of our
ideas between our two countries.
bilateral relations. It is also an important
Like China, the United States is a Pacific
matter affecting the national feelings of 1
nation. A prosperous future is being built in
billion Chinese people. Could you please
the Pacific, and we're now your nation's
tell us how the United States intends to
third largest trading partner. We're work-
gradually remove this obstacle?
ing together to improve industrial, techno-
The President. Well, we believe that this
logical cooperation, increased trade and in-
is a problem of Chinese people on both
vestment, and expand educational and cul-
sides of the straits to work out for them-
tural exchanges.
selves. It is true that we have a long histori-
Let us resolve that communication, not
cal relationship, a friendship with the
confrontation, and commerce, not conflict,
people on Taiwan. We believe that the solu-
will always govern Chinese-American rela-
tion when it comes should be peaceful, and
tions. If we do, there is no limit to the
we do not believe that we should involve
progress we can make by going forward
ourselves in this internal affair.
hand in hand-xieshou bingjin [walk to-
Our position, however, has been with the
gether hand in hand].
utmost sincerity. We want to go forward
And now I'd be delighted to answer any
with friendship for the people of the Peo-
more of your questions.
ple's Republic of China At the same time,
Q. Mr. President, the Chinese public
we don't believe that it would be right to
expect that your visit will give an impetus
cast aside longtime old friends in order to
to the steady and the sustained growth of
make new friends. But we will do anything
Sino-U.S. relations. In your view, what con-
we can to encourage the peaceful solution
crete steps the Chinese and American sides
of this problem by the peoples of China.
588
Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984 / Apr. 28
Q. Mr. President, there is a great poten-
previous questions-or your two previous
tial for Sino-U.S. economic cooperation.
questions-I left out one of the most impor-
What measures the U.S. Government is pre-
tant things that should be mentioned, and
pared to adopt to promote further monom-
that is the development of relations in edu-
ic and technological cooperation between
cation, the exchange of students.
the two countries?
Just before I left the United States to
The President. Well, I believe 1 answered
come here, I met with a group of your stu-
that in part on your previous question here.
dents who are attending our colleges in the
We are going forward. We have made great
United States. There are some 12,000 in all,
strides in providing high technology infor-
and we, at the same time, are looking for-
mation and high technology itself USD trade
ward to an exchange-our own students
with the People's Republic of China. and
coming here. Of course, we also have a visi-
we have an agricultural agreement now
tation in which roughly a hundred thousand
with regard to our grain sales to you. But
of our people visit your country now with
we also have worked out agreements cover-
great interest and enjoyment.
ing other forms of trade.
So, this, I think, is one of the great things
There are still some leftover prohibitions
for the future, as our young people get to
in some of our own laws, but we am work-
know each other. I have always said that
ing with the Congress-our own Congress-
our troubles begin when people are talking
about each other instead of to each other.
to eliminate those and have made great
progress with that. And so, again, it's 11 case
And if we can have our young people talk-
of continuing on the path that has already
ing to each other, I'm very optimistic about
the future.
been started.
Q. Thank you, Mr. President, for your
Q. For the last question, Mr. President,
accepting my interview.
we would like to invite you to speak about
The President. Well, it has been a great
your-perhaps your prediction for the pros-
pleasure. I've enjoyed it. Thank you.
pects for the growth of Sino-U.S. relations in
the future.
Note: The interview began at 9:14 a.m. in
The President. Well, I am very optimistic
the Garden Room at the Diaoyutai State
about this growth of the relations that have
Guest House. It was taped for later use on
already been started. And I think in my two
Chinese television.
Remarks at a Reception for Members of the American Community
in Beijing, China
April 28, 1984
And they thought I couldn't erase the
degree. And on that occasion, a sense of
deficit. [Laughter] Well, thank all of you for
guilt that I'd been nursing for 25 years rose
a very warm welcome. Nancy and I are
up and almost choked me, because I'd fig-
delighted to be with you this evening.
ured the first one they gave me was honor-
We've come to Beijing to strengthen Amer-
ary. [Laughter] Now, if it's this easy, where
ica's ties, as you know, with China, Nome-
will you all be along about next November?
thing that each one of you has been doing
[Laughter]
very well already.
Well, I'm sure that sometimes life as an
Now, about this honorary presidency: I
American in Beijing can present challenges.
greet it with mixed emotions-{laughter}
But whatever difficulties you may face
because once about 25 years after I'd gotten
here, each of you is making history.
out of my alma mater, they had me back at
For more than two decades, as you know,
commencement and gave me an homorary
the United States and China had no rela-
589
Apr. 28 / Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984
tions whatsoever. And then in 1972, Presi-
agreement between our two countries and
dent Nixon's trip to China and the Shanghai
implementing the many agreements that
Communique broke that long silence. Our
we've already made. And those of you in
relationship since that time has been a force
business are making possible the export of
for peace in the world and will continue to
raw materials and manufactures from China
serve that end. But at the same time, China
to America and the shipment to China of
and the United States recognize that we
many American goods including products of
have many other areas of mutual interest,
our technology.
particularly since 1978, when Chinese lead-
Many business people are involved in
ers decided to foster the growth of the Chi-
joint ventures like this dazzling new hotel.
nese economy and open more to the West.
The expansion of these commercial ties is
Since then, we've expanded our cultural
due in no small part to the efforts of the
exchanges. Last year, 150,000 Americans, as
National Council for U.S.-China Trade.
you probably know better than I do, visited
Those of you who are teachers or stu-
China, and today more than 10,000 Chinese
dents are helping the Chinese to under-
students are studying in the United States.
And I had the pleasure of meeting with a
stand not just the strength and prosperity of
small group of those just before coming
the United States but the open and peace-
here, and they were fine young people.
loving character of the American people.
Just as significant, we've begun to form
Day by day, each of you is helping to build
new economic bonds. Today more than a
a firm friendship between the most pros-
hundred American firms have offices in
perous nation and the most populous nation
Beijing, and the Bank of China has an office
on Earth. On behalf of all Americans, be-
in Manhattan. Just a few years ago, both
lieve me, I thank you.
would have been unthinkable.
Now, I know that many of you haven't
Our visit here is intended to demonstrate
been home in some time, so I thought you'd
the maturing of U.S.-China relations
like to hear that it's beautiful springtime in
through four American administrations, and
America. The magnolias are out in Wash-
I think it's doing just that. Thursday, I met
ington. The azaleas are in full bloom in
President Li; Friday, I had meetings with
California. Of course, you know that that
Premier Zhao and General Secretary Hu.
doesn't mean all that it sounds like, because
And earlier today, I had extensive discus-
those of us who are Californians know the
sions with Chairman Deng.
truth of a statement made by the great
While respecting the differences between
comic, Joe Friscoe, once. Joe said that "Cali-
us, the Chinese leaders and I have agreed
fornia is the only place in the world," he
to focus on all that unites us-our determi-
said, "where you can fall asleep under a
nation to resist foreign threats, the funda-
rosebush in full bloom and freeze to death."
mental desire of our people to earn their
[Laughter]
livings and raise their families in prosperity
Well, earlier this month, I threw out the
and peace. The Chinese have made it clear
first ball at the opening game of the Orioles
that they want to multiply the economic
in Baltimore. Then the Orioles lost the
ties between us. And we, in turn, have
game. [Laughter] Since then, I haven't had
sought ways to promote the equitable
any offers to turn pro. [Laughter]
export of high technology to China and
The economy is still expanding briskly
work to promote more Chinese-American
with leading indicators showing the expan-
joint ventures.
sion is here to stay. And polls tell us the
When I return to the Great Hall on
national mood is the brightest that it's been
Monday morning, we'll have important new
in 5 years. Americans this springtime are
agreements to sign. And when I leave this
proud of themselves, their jobs, and their
country on Tuesday, the U.S.-China part-
country, and they're facing the future with
nership will be stronger than ever.
confidence and courage.
Each of you is playing a vital role in this
So, as you go about your work here in this
new and historic relationship. The diplo-
great city, you can rest assured that folks
mats among you are seeking new areas of
back in the States are doing just fine. And
590
Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984 / Apr. 28
you can take pride in the knowledge that,
he decided it appeared so often, it was a
although you're far from home, you're ad-
code. And he was going to break the code.
vancing the causes of world peace and
So, he wrote back to say he had broken
international prosperity that are so close to
the code. He said Grenada does produce
your country's heart.
more nutmeg than any other spot on Earth.
Before I leave, I just have to tell you a
The Soviets and the Cubans are trying to
little incident. You all know, of course,
take Grenada. He said, "You can't have
about the Grenada rescue mission. And, in-
good eggnog without nutmeg." [Laughter]
cidentally, to those who have been trying to
And he said, "You can't have Christmas
call it something ulterior like an invasion or
without eggnog. So, the Soviets and the
something else, we had the great thrill-
Cubans were out to steal Christmas."
Nancy and I-of having several hundred of
[Laughter] And his sixth and final point
those medical students from Grenada who
was, he said, "We stopped them." [Laugh-
were rescued by our Armed Forces at the
ter]
South Lawn of the White House and some
I know that we have to move on here,
of the first returnees among the troops of
but this has been most wonderful, and I
all four branches who were part of that
thank you very much for the honor that
rescue mission there.
you've done me and for giving me the seal.
And it would have put a lump in your
And now, just as soon as I find out from the
throat to see these young people-and
Treasury, I'll settle some other problems-
many of them frankly telling you that they
[laughter]-that have been bothering us.
were from an era where they didn't look
Thank you all very much, and God bless
with kindliness on the uniform; they didn't
you.
take to it. But they couldn't keep their
hands off those youngsters their own age
there on the South Lawn, and they would
Note: The President spoke at 7:10 p.m. in
come hug them, come back and tell us,
the atrium at the Great Wall Hotel. Attend-
"They saved our lives" and all.
ing the reception were members of the
Well, some days later, I got a message
American Club, a group of Americans
from the Armed Forces Journal in the Pen-
living in China. The President was intro-
tagon. They'd received a letter from a
duced by William Clarke, president of the
young marine pilot of a Cobra helicopter
club, who presented the President with a
who had been at Grenada and then went
chop bearing the official American Club
on to Beirut. And after he got there, he
seal.
wrote back to the Armed Forces Journal.
The President's opening comment regard-
And he said that every story that he read in
ing the deficit was in response to Mr.
the press about that incident, in every
Clarke's remark that the President could is-
story, they said Grenada produces more
sue orders and have access to the club's
nutmeg than any other spot on Earth. And
treasury with the chop.
Toast at a Dinner Honoring Premier Zhao Ziyang of China in
Beijing
April 28, 1984
Premier Zhao, ladies and gentlemen,
mention of China holds a sense of allure. It
Nancy and I are delighted to welcome you
conjures up images of the Yangtze River
here tonight. We hope to return in at least
alive with traditional fanchuan [sailboat]
a small way the kind hospitality that has
and modern steamers, with the wide de-
been extended to us since we set foot in
serts of the north, of the bamboo forests in
this magnificent city.
the southwest that are home to pandas,
For Americans, Mr. Premier, the very
golden monkeys, and so many other animals
591
Apr. 28 / Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984
native only to China, of the rich, productive
our foreign relations."
fields and farmlands of the east, and of the
Well, the policy that President Grant de-
huge cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
scribed then remains our policy now. For
All these provide a sharp contrast with
nearly four decades, the United States and
America and remind us of China's sweep
her allies have kept the peace in Europe.
and vitality. Yet what strikes us most, per-
Throughout the world, the United States is
haps, is the sense of China's history. Chi-
supporting the causes of national self-deter-
nese records date back 3,500 years. King-
mination and economic progress. And in
doms rose and fell in China long before we
the interest of peace for our children and
in the West saw the rise and fall of Rome.
our children's children, we're working to
And your people were creating and build-
achieve an equitable and balanced reduc-
ing architectural wonders more than a
tion of nuclear arms.
thousand years before Christopher Colum-
Our aims and commitments are fully con-
bus discovered America.
sistent with the sovereignty, independence,
By contrast, Mr. Premier, it was barely
and economic development of all nations,
four centuries ago that the first European
settlers landed on our eastern coast. These
including China. We seek no expansion but
hardy men and women and those who fol-
the expansion of good will and opportunity;
lowed them came from virtually every
no victory but the victory of peace.
nation in Europe. They felled trees, planted
China and the United States, Mr. Pre-
crops, built towns, and established legisla-
mier, differ markedly in their values, forms
tures. Later, many thousands came from
of government, and economic systems. To
China and joined the pioneers who were
ignore or understate our differences would
establishing farms and towns in the Ameri-
be to do an injustice to both. But we both
can West.
believe that despite our differences our
I have to interject here and think if they
people are united in their desire to resist
had only come earlier and the earliest had
foreign threats, raise their families in pros-
come from across the Pacific instead of the
perity and peace, and go as far in this life as
Atlantic, the Capitol would now be in Cali-
their intelligence and imagination might
fornia. [Laughter]
take them. We hold more than enough in
But together these diverse peoples built a
common to provide firm ground on which
great and free nation. Today that nation
we can work together for the benefit of
represents a powerful force for peace in the
both.
world and is leading a technological revolu-
In the 12 years since the long silence be-
tion that ranges from tiny microchips to
tween our nations was broken by the sign-
voyages through the vastness of space.
ing of the Shanghai Communique, China
Our national experience has instilled in
and America have begun a productive part-
all Americans certain fundamental beliefs.
nership. Our cooperation has helped to pro-
It has taught us that for a nation to prosper
vide a counterbalance to aggressive world
there must be peace, and that for men and
forces. In recent years, we have formed
women to work together, they must respect
new and important bonds in other fields as
each other's rights. And just as these beliefs
well, expanding our cultural and academic
guide our dealings with one another,
exchanges.
they've guided us from the first in our deal-
One figure tells a big part of the story.
ings with other nations.
Just 5 years ago, there were no more than a
Just over a century ago, Ulysses S. Grant,
handful of Chinese and Americans studying
then a former President, came to China and
in each other's countries. Since then, sever-
described America's foreign policy goals to
al hundred American scholars have come to
the Chinese leaders of that time. "We be-
China, and more than 10,000 Chinese stu-
lieve," he said, "that fair play, consideration
dents have gone to America. These students
for the rights of others, and respect for
are forming the ties of friendship and un-
international law will always command the
derstanding on which the future of our rela-
respect of nations and lead to peace. I know
tionship depends.
of no other consideration that enters into
At the same time, our two nations have
592
Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984 / Apr. 29
begun economic exchanges that are grow-
And you have our pledge to give you our
ing in importance every day. Today China
full cooperation as you modernize your na-
exports tons of foodstuffs, raw materials,
tion's economy.
and manufactured goods to the United
To view China and the United States as
States each year. America in turn supplies
immense lands a world apart is to see one
China with grain, transportation equip-
aspect of the truth. But in this century,
ment, and scientific instruments, and the
there's another view that is even more
United States is helping China to acquire
meaningful. It is the view of a small green
the capital and technology so vital to a
and blue ball spinning in the darkness of
growing economy. Already, some of the
space-a sight that has so deeply moved all
many joint Chinese-American business ven-
who have seen it. That view is a view of the
tures have begun to bear fruit. This mag-
future, for it shows one planet, our planet,
nificent hotel is the outcome of just such a
where all nations seem as close neighbors.
joint venture.
Our two nations, Mr. Premier, are firmly
As our relationship has matured, Mr. Pre-
committed to that future.
mier, both our nations have undergone im-
So, ladies and gentlemen, please join me
portant changes. In the past 12 years, we in
in a toast. To your health, Mr. Premier; to
the United States have had four Presidential
the health of President Li, General Secre-
administrations. Each has worked steadfast-
tary Hu, Chairman Deng, and the other
ly to improve the Chinese-American friend-
Chinese leaders I've been privileged to
ship. Here in China, you, too, have had
meet; and to the everlasting friendship of
changes in leadership. But you, too, have
the Chinese and American people.
remained firmly committed to the friend-
And if I say the final word that I was
ship between our nations. We in the United
going to say, with the glass that I will hold
States are particularly pleased by the new
in my hand-I'm afraid we can't do it. I was
emphasis on economic development. We
going to say gan bei [bottoms up]. [Laugh-
congratulate you, Mr. Premier, and the
ter]
other Chinese leaders who have worked so
diligently and boldly to improve the lives of
Note: The President spoke at 9:28 p.m. in
the Chinese people. We recognize that it
the Grand Ballroom at the Great Wall
took courage to set these policies in place.
Hotel.
Radio Address to the Nation on the Trip to China
April 28, 1984
My fellow Americans:
America's responsibility as a Pacific leader
I'm sure you've heard that Nancy and I
in the search for regional security and eco-
are traveling a long way from home this
nomic well-being. The stability and prosper-
week. We've already flown more than 9,000
ity of this region are of crucial importance
miles, stopping off in the beautiful islands of
to the United States. The nations compris-
Hawaii to visit the citizens of our 50th
ing the Pacific Basin represent our fastest
State; and then across the International
growing trading markets. Many say that the
Dateline to Guam, where the rays of each
21st century will be the century of the Pa-
sunrise first touch the Stars and Stripes; and
cific.
then on to our primary destination, China,
Our relations with China have continued
one of the world's oldest civilizations and a
to develop through the last four administra-
country of great importance in today's Pa-
tions, ever since President Nixon made his
cific community of nations.
historic journey here in 1972. In 1978 the
This is our second trip to Asia in the last
Chinese leadership decided to chart a new
6 months. It demonstrates our awareness of
course for their country, permitting more
593
Apr. 29 / Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984
economic freedom for the people in an
violate the rights of law-abiding nations and
effort to modernize their economy. Not sur-
endanger world peace.
prisingly, the results have been positive.
When people have the opportunity to
Today China's efforts to modernize, foster
communicate, cooperate, and engage in
the spirit of enterprise, open its doors to the
commerce, they can often produce astonish-
West, and expand areas of mutual coopera-
ing results. We've already agreed to cooper-
tion while opposing Soviet aggression make
ate more closely in the areas of trade, tech-
it a nation of increasing importance to
nology, investment, and exchange of scien-
America and to prospects for peace and
tific and managerial expertise. And we've
prosperity in the Pacific.
reached an important agreement on the
When Nancy and I arrived in Beijing, we
peaceful uses of nuclear energy for econom-
were touched by the friendly hospitality of
ic development.
the Chinese people, and we've been de-
Our last stop in China will be Shanghai, a
lighted to see the sweeping vistas, the bus-
center of culture and commerce. We plan
tling activity, and the many hallmarks of
to visit the Shanghai Foxboro Company,
history in this great, old city.
where Americans and Chinese are making
In Beijing, narrow residential streets, tra-
high technology equipment to help advance
ditional one-story houses, and treasures like
China's industries. And I'll also visit with
the Forbidden City, a former Imperial
the students at Fudan University and speak
Palace, first erected in 1420, are inter-
to them about the meaning of America, the
spersed with modern highrises and wide
challenges our people face, and the dreams
avenues. The streets are normally filled
we share.
with people riding bicycles. All of you who
We can learn much from the rich history
like bikeriding would love Beijing.
of China and from the wisdom and charac-
From the first moment, our schedule has
been fully packed. I've already had exten-
ter of her people. And I've told the Chinese
sive meetings with the Chinese leaders—
that Americans are people of peace, filled
President Li, Prime Minister Zhao, General
with the spirit of innovation and a passion
Secretary Hu, and Chairman Deng. I had
for progress to make tomorrow better than
the honor of addressing a large group of
today.
Chinese and American leaders in science
Our two nations are poised to take an
and industry in the Great Hall of the
historic step forward on the path of peace-
People, and I've spoken to the people of
ful cooperation and economic development.
China over Chinese television.
I'm confident that our trip will be a signifi-
We've also squeezed in some side trips-
cant success, resulting in a stronger U.S.-
first, to the magnificent Great Wall, built by
China relationship than before. For Ameri-
the Chinese more than 2,000 years ago to
cans, this will mean more jobs and a better
protect their country from outside invaders;
chance for a peaceful world.
and tomorrow, to the ancient city of Xi'an,
Until next week, thanks for listening, and
an archeological treasure considered the
God bless you.
cradle of Chinese civilization and located in
a fertile plain near the Yellow River.
Note: The President recorded his address at
In all of our meetings and appearances,
the Diaoyutai State Guest House on Satur-
I've stressed one overriding point-differ-
day, April 28, Beijing time, for broadcast
ent as to our two forms of government-
on Saturday, April 28, in the United States.
different as they may be, the common in-
As printed above, this item follows the
terests that bind our two peoples are even
text of the White House press release, which
greater. Namely, our determination to build
was released by the Office of the Press Sec-
a better life and to resist aggressors who
retary in Beijing on April 29.
594
Administration of Ronald Reagan, 1984 / Apr. 30
Remarks at a Signing Ceremony for Four United States-China
Agreements
April 30, 1984
Thank you, Premier Zhao.
pleased that many Chinese people will be
The developing relationship between
able to see more American art and culture
China and the United States has been one
and learn more about our people and our
of the principal events of postwar diploma-
country.
cy. And today we're taking further steps to
Ambassador Richard Kennedy and State
broaden and strengthen the ties based on
Science and Technology Commissioner Jia
shared principles of mutual respect and
Weiwen are initialing the text of an agree-
mutual benefit. We're concluding new ac-
ment, as the Premier told us, for coopera-
cords that will facilitate trade and invest-
tion between the United States and China
ment, enhance the exchange of people and
in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. We
ideas between our countries, expand the
congratulate the negotiators for their hard
prospects for cooperation in developing
work and diligence. This agreement will
China's nuclear energy capability, and help
permit American firms and experts to help
address China's critical need for developing
China meet the ambitious energy goals of
skilled managers.
its modernization program. Our agreement
First, we're signing a tax agreement that
is based on our shared desire to prevent the
will make it easier for Chinese and Ameri-
proliferation of nuclear explosives in the
can firms to engage in trade and cooperate
world. And it brings a new dimension of
in joint ventures. With this agreement, pri-
peaceful cooperation to our relationship.
vate investors in professional exchanges can
Finally, we are signing a protocol which
make a stronger contribution to Chinese de-
extends the successful Dalien Program and
velopment and to the benefit of both of our
creates a special new 3-year course in man-
nations.
agement.
We're also signing the implementing
The Chinese people are known to Ameri-
accord for the Cultural Agreement between
cans as people of admirable patience and
the United States and China. Our visit has
endless courtesy. Throughout our stay here,
reinforced our appreciation for Chinese
we have seen both of those virtues. Let us
hospitality and for China's ancient and hon-
hope that as contacts grow between the
orable culture. I'm delighted that now mil-
Chinese and American people, each of us
lions of other Americans will be able to see
will continue to learn about the other, and
the artistic and cultural achievements of the
this important, new friendship of ours will
Chinese people.
mature and prosper.
This accord will open my own country's
rich heritage to the Chinese people. And
Note: The President spoke at 9:03 a.m. in
under the terms of the agreement, an ex-
the Western Hall at the Great Hall of the
hibit from the Brooklyn Museum of Art is
People in Beijing, China.
just now opening here in Beijing. We're
Premier Zhao Ziyang also made remarks.
Text of the United States-China Accord for Cultural Exchange
April 30, 1984
Implementing Accord for Cultural Exchange
People's Republic of China
in 1984 and 1985 Under the Cultural Agree-
ment Between the Government of the United
The Government of the United States of
States of America and the Government of the
America and the Government of the Peo-
595
116
LOOKING FORWARD
could to support the Taiwan government. America's position re-
garding his country's status was changing. The U.S. delegation had
worked hard to get a "Dual Representation" policy through the
General Assembly, but in the end it was a different kind of "Dual
Representation" policy-Washington's ambivalence on the ques-
tion of recognizing Beijing-that had undercut the case we tried to
make to save Taiwan.
In the summer of 1971, Henry Kissinger had made the secret
visit to Beijing that first signaled the change in U.S. policy. Then,
not long before the debate on Taiwan's status in the General As-
sembly, Washington announced that President Nixon would visit
China in 1972.
The news was seen in the White House and State Department
as a historic breakthrough. But at the operational level of U.S.
policy in the U.N., we were asking neutral nations to stand firm
against Beijing, while softening our own policy toward Mao's re-
gime.
Despite my personal feelings about Taiwan's expulsion, the
long-range wisdom of having the People's Republic of China in the
U.N. and of opening diplomatic contacts with Beijing was obvious.
I understood what the President and Henry Kissinger were trying
to accomplish. What was harder to understand was Henry's telling
me he was "disappointed" by the final outcome of the Taiwan
vote. So was I. But given the fact that we were saying one thing in
New York and doing another in Washington, that outcome was
inevitable.
The delegation from the People's Republic of China arrived in
New York City in their drab gray Mao jackets* on November 11. It
* Actually, "Sun" jackets, after Sun Yat-sen, the father of modern China. A few years later,
when I was U.S. envoy to Beijing, I made some mention of "Mao jackets" and was corrected
by a Chinese, who quickly informed me that Sun, not Mao, was the first to wear them. The
fact that both the Taiwan government and Beijing government claimed Sun as the founder
of their movements points up the complexity of Chinese politics and the danger of trying to
jump to easy conclusions about Chinese policy and intentions at any given time.
HERE You ARE, WITH YOUR THREE WINES
117
was my first direct exposure to the Communist Chinese. I was in
for some geopolitical surprises.
It came as no surprise when the P.R.C.'s Deputy Foreign Min-
ister, Qiao Guanhua, denounced the United States in his first for-
mal address to the U.N. General Assembly. But while knowing
that the two Communist powers had serious differences, I didn't
appreciate the antagonism the Chinese felt toward the Russians,
until he spent an equal amount of time denouncing the Soviet
Union. A cartoon appeared in the next day's paper showing Malik
and me at our desks, grimacing while Qiao dumped a bucket of rice
over both our heads.
Qiao's speech was only the beginning of my education into
the true state of Chinese-Soviet relations, however. The real sur-
prise-that they merely disliked us, but despised the Russians—
came when China's U.N. ambassador, Huang Hua, attended his
first informal session of the five permanent members of the Secu-
rity Council.
The session took place at the apartment of the French ambas-
sador, Jacques Kosciusko-Morizet. Huang Hua and I had already
met in one of those carefully planned scenarios laid out by State
Department protocol experts. Because the United States didn't for-
mally recognize the Beijing government, my meeting with repre-
sentatives of the P.R.C. would have to appear casual, not pre-
planned.
I seated myself in the U.N. delegate's lounge, at a place where
Qiao Guanhua and Huang Hua would have to pass on their way
in. Then, as they came by, I rose, extended my hand, and intro-
duced myself-cordially but not effusively.
They each shook my hand, cordially but not effusively. The
"spontaneous" introductions over, we went our ways; but it was
important that the Chinese ambassador and I talk to each other
occasionally, because our two countries, despite having no formal
diplomatic relations, had areas of common interest.
Now Kosciusko-Morizet, having greeted Huang Hua at the
door of his apartment, was ushering him into the living room,
118
LOOKING FORWARD
where Sir Colin Crowe, Yakov Malik, and I were waiting. Huang
was introduced to Sir Colin, shook his hand, then to me, and shook
my hand. Then Malik held out his hand. I saw Huang Hua put his
hand forward; but on hearing the words "Soviet ambassador," he
jerked it back, pivoted, and walked away.
The insult couldn't have been more calculated. Huang knew
before he came that Malik would be there. He was giving the
Russian a strong taste of the medicine Malik liked to dish out on
meeting newcomers-except that the Chinese weren't merely
probing to see how far they could push the Russians. I realized
Huang's act was a deliberate, open display to the other major pow-
ers that the Chinese considered Soviet "hegemony"-even more
than American "imperialism"-the greatest threat to their coun-
try's security.
Malik, his hand extended in midair, turned a livid shade of
purple. It was as if Huang had struck him with the back of his
hand. At that moment-it couldn't have been more than a few
seconds, though it seemed longer-the tension in the room was
impossible to describe. Not a word, just heavy breathing. Then our
French host, in full flap, moved rapidly toward the dining room,
waving and calling out, "Allons, allons, let's begin the meeting."
The five of us took our places at the table-the two Commu-
nist ambassadors seated a safe distance from each other-and we
went on to have a relatively civil discussion. But years later, when I
was sent to Beijing as U.S. envoy, the impact of that meeting
stayed with me.
The last time an ambassador had refused to shake hands with
a Soviet diplomat had been when Henry Cabot Lodge turned away
from Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky in the 1950s, at the height
of American-Russian Cold War tensions. What I learned in the
French ambassador's living room was that no matter what the state
of détente between the United States and the Soviets, there was
another Cold War taking place in the world-one between the
world's two biggest Communist powers.
BEIJING*/1975
After only a month on the job, I was facing my first major
diplomatic challenge as chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in Mao's
1989
China: Henry Kissinger was coming to town.
1975
In the mid-1970s, if you were a member of the Ford adminis-
14
tration and uttered the word "China," you knew that wherever he
yrs.
was at the moment-Cairo, Jerusalem, Paris-Henry Kissinger's
antennae would quiver. China was Henry's private diplomatic do-
main, the scene of his greatest diplomatic exploit.
Four years had passed since Kissinger's surprise trip to Beijing,
the first step in President Nixon's historic China initiative. Nixon
was gone, but his Secretary of State was still guiding U.S. foreign
policy in general and China policy in particular.
I quickly learned that after taking over David Bruce's job as
United States envoy to the People's Republic.
The appointment came when President Ford invited me to the
Oval Office to talk about what role I might play in his new admin-
istration. The first role I'd been considered for-Vice President—
had gone to Nelson Rockefeller. Before announcing his choice of
Rockefeller, Ford had phoned to give me the news. At that time, he
mentioned our getting together as soon as possible to "discuss the
future."
The future. As far as Barbara and I were concerned, the best
*
Called Peking at the time Barbara and I were there, but to avoid confusion contemporary
spelling of Chinese proper names is used here.
130
LOOKING FORWARD
"future" we could imagine was one that took us as far as possible
from the immediate past. Serving as Republican National Commit-
tee chairman during the last months of the Nixon administration
had been a political nightmare. Much as we liked Washington, this
seemed a perfect time to get away from the city, if the right job
offer came along.
When I visited the Oval Office, the President thanked me for
the service I'd given the party as RNC chairman, then mentioned
the fact that two key diplomatic posts were about to open up.
Ambassador to Great Britain and Ambassador to France.
But I had something else in mind. David Bruce was planning
to leave his post as head of the U.S. Liaison Office (USLO) in
China. Given a choice, I told the President, that was the job I
wanted.
Ford finished tamping his pipe, then looked up. "China?" he
said, obviously surprised.
I repeated: China-if and when it was available.
Barbara and I had talked it over. We'd come to a decision
much like the one we made in 1948. Back then we decided not to
do the traditional thing, but to head for the West. We now agreed
that if the President gave me a choice of overseas assignments, the
thing to do was head for the Far East. An important, coveted post
like London or Paris would be good for the résumé, but Beijing was
a challenge, a journey into the unknown. A new China was emerg-
ing, and the relationship between the United States and the Peo-
ple's Republic would be crucial in the years to come, not just in
terms of Asian but of worldwide American policy.
The United States didn't maintain formal diplomatic relations
with the People's Republic at the time, so my appointment
wouldn't need Senate confirmation.* But it would need Henry's
cooperation, because nothing in the U.S. Government that touched
on China passed without his inspection and approval.
Henry was so apprehensive about the possibility of "leaks"
concerning the Sino-American relationship that the State Depart-
Because I'd been ambassador to the United Nations I carried the title "ambassador" to
China.
I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED AN INVITATION FROM GOD
131
ment and National Security Council briefings for my new job were
conducted in a lock-and-key atmosphere.
Some of the most important papers I needed to know about-
fundamental documents like Nixon's conversations with Mao that
led to the Shanghai Communique of 1972-were closely held by
Henry's staff. So closely held that I could read them only inside the
private office of Richard Solomon, senior staff member of the Na-
tional Security Council and one of our top China experts.
Kissinger's academic specialty was European, not Asian, af-
fairs, but he viewed United States-China relations in a context of
global strategy and security. The word was out that China policy
was to be handled only by him and his closest aides: Solomon;
Philip Habib, then Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs; and Winston Lord, director of the State Depart-
ment's Foreign Planning staff.
Henry assured me before I left for China that I'd be kept fully
informed by him and his staff on everything that transpired be-
tween the United States and China. Most of the action along this
front came not in Beijing but Washington, where he met fre-
quently with Ambassador Huang Zhen, my counterpart in the
Chinese Liaison Office. I'd learn, as had David Bruce, that it took a
bureaucratic battle with the State Department to get any informa-
tion about the Secretary's private talks with the Chinese.
My briefings ended in mid-September, 1974, and Barbara and
I headed toward our new assignment, with a new member of the
family in the airplane hold, C. Fred Bush.
C. Fred was named after our Midland, and later Houston,
friend, C. Fred Chambers. When Barbara had asked Ambassador
Huang whether it would be all right to bring our new family dog
with us to Beijing, we got our first hint of the culture shock we
were about to meet in our new assignment.
"A dog?" said Huang, nodding. "Yes, of course, bring him."
Then: "He isn't a sleeve dog, is he?" This, we learned, is the Chinese
expression for the small pekinese that the old Manchu mandarins
used to carry in their sleeves. Pre-Revolutionary "sleeve dogs"
weren't appreciated in Mao's China.
132
LOOKING FORWARD
C. Fred passed that test, but after our arrival in China he
turned out to be something of a culture shock to the Chinese. Dogs
have been a rarity in China, ever since the People's Republic began
a canine extermination program after the civil war of the 1940s to
check the spread of disease. When we'd take Fred for walks, some
Chinese were confused, pointing to him and saying, "Mao!", the
Chinese word for cat. Others were simply curious, and a few were
terrified. Practically the first sentence Barbara learned to say in
Chinese was "Don't worry, he's only a little dog and he doesn't
bite."
Not that dogs are entirely unacceptable in modern China. At a
dinner we attended shortly after our arrival, an item was described
on the official menu as "fragrant meat." After we came home and
showed the menu to a staff member familiar with Chinese culture,
he explained that what we'd just eaten was "the upper lip of a wild
dog."
The Kissinger visit was coming after a month of settling into
my new post and getting acquainted with the thirty-member
USLO staff, headed by John Holdridge, deputy chief of mission.
John, a onetime college athlete who stood well over six feet, was an
impressive presence at diplomatic functions. He was a China
scholar who later became U.S. ambassador to Singapore, then As-
sistant Secretary of State for the Far East. Other top-level staff
members included Don Anderson, our expert in Chinese political
affairs, the head of our economic section-first Herbert Horowitz,
later Bill Thomas and my executive assistant, Jennifer Fitzgerald.
Anderson's job had to be one of the most frustrating diplo-
matic assignments in the U.S. foreign service. He was supposed to
figure out what was going on politically in a country with a centu-
ries-old tradition of secrecy in government. Don and his deputies
searched for the slightest clue that some Chinese leader was rising
or falling in status. They were experts in the protocol of Chinese
leadership. Was some leader not mentioned in a news story about the dedication
of a new building in his city of birth? Was a Chinese deputy minister sent to an
international conference, instead of his boss? Why hasn't so-and-so been heard
from in over three months? Who's up, who's down?
I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED AN INVITATION FROM GOD
133
Being briefed by Don and his political section on the subtlety
of Chinese politics, I couldn't help thinking what a field day Evans
and Novak, Sam Donaldson, and other American political pundits
would have if they could cover Beijing the way they cover Wash-
ington.
After getting to know the USLO staff, my next assignment
had been to start meeting some of the Chinese leaders Don Ander-
son's department told me about. The first high-ranking Chinese
official I called on was one I'd known from my days at the U.N.-
Qiao Guanhua.
Qiao was then the vice minister of foreign affairs who'd led
the first People's Republic delegation to the U.N. in 1972. He'd
introduced his country to the world body with a speech that im-
partially ripped into the United States and Soviet Union. He was
the figure shown in the following day's newspaper cartoon, empty-
ing a rice bowl over both my head and Yakov Malik's.
That was Qiao the tough diplomat. Later, I found out there
was a Qiao the quiet diplomat, who was interested in pursuing his
country's policy of improved relations with the United States. We
got to know each other over informal dinners.
Qiao, who had since risen to become Foreign Minister, re-
membered those U.N. days when I made my first official call on
him as head of the U.S. Liaison Office. Not long after that, he
hosted a family-style dinner for Barbara and me. Political experts
in other foreign embassies in Beijing, particularly the Soviet em-
bassy, probably took note and started drawing conclusions. No
doubt Qiao had that in mind when he planned the dinner
Educated in Germany, Qiao spoke excellent English. He was
married to Zhang Hanzhi, a high-level official at the Chinese For-
eign Ministry, a brilliant, attractive woman who wore a Western-
style hairdo, unusual in Mao's China. Unlike many other Chinese
leaders, Qiao was at ease when he talked to foreigners. He could be
gracious, but also blunt, and was frequently compared to Premier
Zhou Enlai.
Later, both Qiao and his wife would lose power for a combi-
nation of reasons. He sided with the anti-Deng faction during a
134
LOOKING FORWARD
period of upheaval. She was too close to Jiang Ging, Mao's wife
and later a leader of the "Gang of Four." When the "Gang" was
purged in the autumn of 1976 and Deng returned to power, Qiao
and his wife went the way of all Chinese leaders who back the
wrong faction.
But when I arrived in Beijing two years earlier, in the autumn
of 1974, Qiao was a rising power in China, a man Western diplo-
mats wanted to see and talk to because of his own brilliance and
frankness.
We discussed Kissinger's coming visit, and I could tell by the
way Qiao talked about Henry that the Chinese held the American
Secretary of State in high esteem. From what I gathered, the Chi-
nese leaders felt that Henry had a better understanding of them—
and the Russians-than any other top-level Western diplomat.
When the huge blue-and-white Kissinger jet bearing the Seal of
the United States touched down, the Beijing airport couldn't have
been more crowded if the President of the United States himself
had been arriving.
For a split second, when the door to the jet opened, I thought
it was the President who'd arrived. The first people off the plane
were Henry's security men. I stopped counting after half a dozen.
"So many," commented Nancy Tang, the official Chinese
Government interpreter, as the Kissinger Secret Service team
fanned out across the tarmac. The number did seem excessive in a
country so tightly controlled that the American Secretary of State's
security was virtually guaranteed by his hosts.
Now Henry himself was climbing down the plane ramp, ac-
companied by his wife Nancy and his two children, David and
Elizabeth. There were warm greetings at planeside, after which the
Kissinger party climbed into an official black car and moved off, in
a cloud of dust, to the government guesthouses on the eastern
outskirts of Beijing.
Literally in a cloud of dust. For all Beijing's historic grandeur, a
month there had reminded Barbara and me of life on East Seventh
Street in Odessa, Texas, in 1948. Like Odessa, the Chinese capital
lies in the center of a great plain. Unpaved side streets make for
I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED AN INVITATION FROM GOD
135
limited visibility when the winds kick up. C. Fred's color had al-
ready been altered from bright natural gold to dull gray. I had a
cold-iI not actually triggered by dust, then aggravated by it.
We arrived at the guesthouses where the Kissingers were stay-
ing. Henry was in an expansive mood, trading pleasantries with his
Chinese hosts. I'd seen him like this on other occasions. Whenever
he was center stage, the Secretary seemed to come alive, like a
political candidate working a crowd back home.
To save commuting time-traveling through and around the
million bicycles that operated between the USLO and the Kis-
singers' quarters-Barbara and I were temporarily staying at a
nearby guesthouse. One of our Chinese hosts pointedly reminded
us that we'd been assigned quarters in Guest House 18, the same
quarter President Nixon had stayed in during his first visit to
China, In February 1972.
The guesthouses were comfortable, though not lavish. Like
most hostelries in China, they came provisioned with everything a
foreign traveler might need: pens, ink, writing paper, bathrobes,
slippers, cosmetics, even toothbrushes and toothpaste. In the lull
before our first official function, Barbara sat down to write a letter
home. When she'd finished addressing the envelope and got ready
to apply the Chinese stamps-which seldom come with glue on the
back side-she looked around, then commented, "Everything's
here but the glue."
There were only two other people in the room at the time:
John Holdridge and I. The next day a bottle of glue was in place on
the desh.
The Kissinger visit included top-level talks with Vice Premier
Deng and Foreign Minister Qiao, meetings that gave me a rare
opportunity to pick up information about the latest developments
in Sino American relations. Information, I'd come to realize after
four weeks on the job, was hard to come by for an ambassador to
China.
It wasn't my problem alone-the fact that Henry's staff in
136
LOOKING FORWARD
Washington was reluctant to share what they knew. That was true,
but other diplomats in Beijing proved to be equally hungry for
facts, speculation, even rumors about what was going on. A veil of
secrecy surrounded diplomatic life in China, and after Kissinger
left, my appointment book was filled with visits from other am-
bassadors scrambling for any inside information they could get.
According to one theory held by the ambassador from Nepal,
there were certain advantages to being a new envoy to Beijing. A
fresh perspective, he said. "I've been here ten years," he remarked,
"and I think I actually know less about the Chinese than when I
arrived."
Foreign ambassadors soon learned that Chinese diplomacy
transforms the cryptic phrase into an art form. Send in a request to
see a high-level Chinese official and you may be rejected in one of
three ways-all polite.
First, you might be told that such a meeting was "not conve-
nient." That meant, you would see the official when hell freezes
over.
Second, your request might be accepted "in principle." That
meant, don't hold your breath.
Third, you might be told such a meeting was "possible, but it
might take a while." Since Chinese measure time differently than
impatient Westerners, "a while" might mean anything from five to
twenty years.
Like other ambassadors stationed in Beijing, I soon discovered
that there was more than one kind of Chinese Wall. It was impossi-
ble to pick up a phone and ask a Chinese official for a meeting to
discuss some international issue. The rule was: Don't call us, we'll
call you.
The Wall got particularly frustrating at times for someone who
had arrived in China eager to learn about the country and its peo-
ple. If diplomacy means anything at all, it's establishing contact.
But the Chinese bureaucracy saw it differently.
Not long after our arrival in Beijing, for example, a team of
medical experts arrived from the United States. The team was in-
terested in the tropical disease bilharzia, or snail fever. Since the
I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED AN INVITATION FROM GOD
137
disease was prevalent in China, anything the experts learned about
it was bound to help the Chinese. So it seemed to me as U.S.
ambassador.
The Chinese greeted members of the delegation warmly. They
gave them the full treatment of special sightseeing tours and suc-
culent banquets. Days passed, with the American experts sightsee-
ing and gaining weight from eating well. But the purpose of their
visit had hit a snag. They could see the Great Wall and the Forbid-
den City but not the one thing in China they'd come to see. Only
after numerous requests-and finally complaints-did the Chinese
bureaucracy break down and permit the Americans to examine
their native snails.
As far as the Chinese were concerned, foreign visitors were in
their country to learn only what their hosts wanted them to learn.
Their usual technique was simply to limit visitors' access to infor-
mation; but there was a Potemkin village variation reserved for
special visitors like the Kissingers.
Toward the end of the Kissinger family's five-day visit, a trip
was arranged to the city of Suzhou, a place famous for its embroi-
deries, located halfway between Beijing and Shanghai. We all took
off from Beijing airport in two British-built Trident jets furnished
by our hosts. Lynn Pascoe of the USLO had been to the city only a
week before, escorting a group of American university presidents.
He reported that it was as cluttered with bicycle and truck traffic as
Beijing.
But not on the day we came to Suzhou with the Kissingers. As
we drove down empty streets, there were no vehicles, no pedestri-
ans. Under similar circumstances, Bill Buckley, visiting China with
a group of journalists, asked his guide where all the people were.
"The what?" asked the guide. "The people," replied Bill. "You
know, as in People's Republic of China."
As the Kissingers and Bushes drove down the main boule-
vards of Suzhou, I could see masses of people huddled on side
streets, held back by barricades. Whatever the Chinese Govern-
ment's reason for clearing the streets during our visit, it was an
138
LOOKING FORWARD
eerie, even frightening demonstration of how a totalitarian govern-
ment can control its population.
The Potemkin variation came at one of Suzhou's parks, where
we saw a group of small children playing, laughing, and singing in
what was obviously a well-rehearsed, choreographed scene. Our
suspicions were confirmed when, after we returned to our cars, the
park suddenly fell silent. The scene was over; the kids had done
their duty for Chairman Mao.*
Two days later the Kissingers were flying back to Washington
and life around the USLO compound returned to normal. Under
my predecessor David Bruce, that meant acting simply as a United
States observer and point of contact on the Beijing diplomatic
scene. He felt that the lack of formal relations between the United
States and the People's Republic called for a low-key operation.
Kissinger obviously agreed. When Henry heard I'd turned
down the ambassador's posts in London and Paris in order to go to
Beijing, he was baffled. "There'll be some substantive work from
time to time," he said, outlining my duties as chief of the USLO,
"but for the most part you'll be bored beyond belief."
Considering the strictures that Chinese authorities put on the
diplomatic community, that might have proven true under "nor-
mal" conditions. But after examining the job's limits and potential,
I set out to redefine what "normal" conditions would be around
the USLO.
The compound itself, located in a section of Beijing set aside
for embassies, is built in a style reminiscent of Southern California
architecture in the 1920s: Sunset Boulevard-one part Spanish, one
part Oriental. Two green-uniformed soldiers of the People's Liber-
ation Army stood guard at the gate.
* It was only the first of many such scenes Barbara and I were to witness during our stay in
China. Regimentation and dogma permeate the Chinese educational system. On one trip to
a provincial school, we were guests at a kids' performance featuring songs like "I'm Longing
to Grow a Pair of Industrial Hands" and "I Want to Hurry and Grow Up So I Can Fight for
the Revolution." Popular adult songs while we were in Beijing-- period when Mao's wife
was in charge of cultural affairs-were "Baritone Solo to Be Loaded with Friendship and
Carried Abroad by Sailors in Chinese-Made Ships" and "The Red Sunshine Lighted Up the
Platform Around the Steel Furnace." Fortunately for the Chinese, cultural restrictions were
relaxed after the fall of the Gang of Four. They can now balance their ideological diet with
music from other parts of the world. And their talented artists are enjoying more freedom.
I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED AN INVITATION FROM God
139
Inside the compound is a small consular building and next to
that the residence of the chief of the mission. The house itself is
open and well lighted, with reception and dining rooms on the
ground floor. Our private quarters were upstairs.
There was a six-member house staff-two cooks, two atten-
dants, two cleaning women. The head of the staff was Mr. Wong, a
young man in his twenties, pleasant but with a rigid sense of order.
Our head cook, Mr. Sun, was a culinary artist, said to be one of the
best in Beijing. Other embassies weren't as lucky. One ambassa-
dor's wife constantly complained to the Chinese protocol office
about how poor their cook was. Eventually the Chinese got around
to removing him-but not happily. They didn't send a replacement
for -weeks, leaving the ambassador's wife to do her own cooking.
For transportation, the chief of mission was provided a Chrys-
ler sedan, and at first Barbara and I used it. But within a month I
took my first step in breaking the mold on what was expected from
a U.S. envoy to Beijing. Not a major diplomatic move, but one that
would help prove Henry wrong in his prediction that my new job
would be boring.
When in China, I figured, why not travel as the Chinese do?
By the time my mother arrived for a Christmas holiday visit, Mr.
Wong had informed me that among his friends Barbara and I were
known as "Busher, who ride the bicycle, just as the Chinese do."
Christmas of 1974 was the first time since Barbara and I had
married that we'd spent the holiday apart. She'd gone back home
to be with the children, who were still in school. But I didn't have
to spend Christmas alone. My mother and an aunt, Marjorie Clem-
ent, had come to visit. After church we bicycled around the em-
bassy district, paying a call on the British ambassador, Ted Youde.
We also called Washington, where Barbara and the kids had
gathered for Christmas. Jeb had made Phi Beta Kappa, Neil was
getting good grades, Marvin was gearing up for the basketball sea-
son.
On Christmas night Mr. Sun outdid himself with his first
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LOOKING FORWARD
Western holiday meal: turkey, cranberry sauce, the trimmings;
however, instead of a pumpkin or pecan pie dessert, he prepared a
spectacular Chinese specialty called Beijing Dust: a light pastry
with a mountain of whipped cream, topped by ground chestnuts
(the "dust").
But the main part of the day was spent underground. During
the Kissinger visit, when Henry and I visited Vice Premier Deng,
he'd asked whether I'd had an opportunity to see "the caves."
When I said no, a special Christmas Day tour was arranged.
"The caves" were the tunnels beneath Beijing. To get there, I
met a cadre from the People's Liberation Army and a neighbor-
hood commune at a specified intersection. They led me to a nearby
clothing store. In the store we approached some racks that con-
cealed a button. When the button was pushed, a trap door slid
open. We walked down about twenty-five feet, through a honey-
comb of tunnels, and through what appeared to be large rooms.
There were also lavatories, and though there was no sign of a ven-
tilation system, my hosts assured me there was good air and drain-
age-and space enough to house thousands of people in this one
neighborhood.
What I was seeing were underground bomb shelters-civil de-
fense "caves" the Chinese were digging in every major city. "Dig
tunnels deep," Chairman Mao had instructed, "store grain every-
where." Why? In the event, I was told, that the Soviet Union ever
decided to wage war against China with nuclear weapons rather
than by conventional means.
After my visit to "the caves" was over, I thanked my guides
and bicycled back to the compound. When Mother asked how I
enjoyed the tour, I told her what I'd seen. Her comment was that it
was an odd Christmas gift: an invitation to visit a bomb shelter on
a day dedicated to the spirit of peace on earth.
By that time, however, I'd been in China long enough to know
that my hosts left little to chance or accident in dealing with for-
eigners. The Chinese were out to make a point-that they are vigi-
lant against the Soviets, and ready for any turn of world events,
even the worst.
I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED AN INVITATION FROM GOD
141
I agreed with Mother that arranging the tour for Christmas
Day was odd timing. But it was timing guaranteed to make my
visit to "the caves" one I wouldn't soon forget.
There was an incidental note about that Christmas that left me
shaking my head as to whether, like the ambassador from Nepal,
I'd end up feeling that the more you learn about the Chinese, the
less you really understand them.
Before leaving Beijing, Mother told Mr. Wong, the chief of our
house staff, how much she and Aunt Marge appreciated what had
been done to make their visit comfortable. In the spirit of the sea-
son, she offered him and members of his staff small gifts, explain-
ing that was the custom of our country. When Wong said, "No,
thank you," Mother persisted, feeling he was just being modest.
But he still refused, and nothing could budge him.
The reason, a member of my USLO staff explained, was that
in Mao's China, taking a gratuity of any kind for doing one's job is
considered bourgeois-or worse. It would have been risky for
Wong to accept the gifts. Under the strict revolutionary dogma that
governs Chinese life, he would have felt compelled to stand up at a
so-called "self-criticism" session in his neighborhood and confess
that he had accepted a gift from foreigners.
When it was explained to me, I nodded as if I understood. But
I really didn't-at least not completely. It turned out there was a
way around the no-gift rule. So long as our houseguests specified
that the items were "to help you in your work," Wong and the
others would accept them-which was the way the impasse be-
tween Eastern and Western, Communist and capitalist custom was
solved during our time in China. Or so we thought.*
* When our stay in China ended, as we prepared to return to the United States and a new
assignment, Mr. Wong suddenly appeared one day, bearing gifts-every gift that the house
staff had received from every guest we'd had.
"Why?" I asked. Mr. Wong explained: the gifts had been given "to help us in our work"
in the Bush household. But now there would be no Bush household in Beijing, in which
case, he told me with perfect Chinese logic, there was no more reason to keep them.
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LOOKING FORWARD
While "the Bushers" bicycling around town was one way to
break out of the diplomatic cocoon of Beijing's foreign embassy
district, it still didn't solve the problem of being isolated from con-
tact with Chinese government officials. Other members of the dip-
lomatic corps at least met these officials at various receptions held
in honor of each country's national holiday. Some Chinese govern-
ment representative and his coterie would always show up at these
open-house social events.
David Bruce hadn't attended these receptions. He strictly de-
fined his role in terms of being U.S. liaison to the Chinese Govern-
ment, not a full-fledged diplomatic representative. However, I
thought that in bypassing these events we were missing an oppor-
tunity to make our presence felt in Beijing, and adopted a policy of
accepting national holiday invitations.
The first invitation we accepted was from the Algerian em-
bassy. There was a flurry of animated conversation around the
room when we walked in with the Holdridges. Americans at a
diplomatic reception at Beijing! But things soon returned to nor-
mal. The diplomatic ice had been broken; from then on, our ap-
pearance at these events was considered routine.
Henry Kissinger didn't think much of my policy of being an
active liaison officer. "It doesn't matter whether they like you or
not," he once told me. I disagreed. My purpose wasn't to win pop-
ularity contests in Beijing but to get to know the Chinese-and to
get them to know Americans-al a personal level. Henry, of all
people, knew the value of personal relationships in world affairs. It
was his warm relationship with Anwar Sadat that helped break
down barriers of distrust in the Middle East.
But there was one period during our stay in China that had me
second-guessing myself as to whether David Bruce wasn't right in
staying away from diplomatic events. That came in the spring of
1975, as the military situation for the United States and our South
Vietnamese ally deteriorated. This turn of events seemed to
I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED AN INVITATION FROM GOD
143
sharpen the anti-American instincts not only of our country's ad-
versaries in the world, but of some of our friends as well. When-
ever I walked past groups of diplomats, I could sense their hostility
and, in some cases, satisfaction that America's policy in Southeast
Asia was failing.
The worst of these days was April 30, the eve of Beijing's May
Day celebration. Barbara and I were at the Netherlands embassy, at
a reception commemorating the birthday of Queen Juliana. As the
guests gathered, word was spreading that Saigon had fallen. Ordi-
narily the atmosphere at these events was restrained, but that night
the room was charged with anticipation. Then, suddenly, the rep-
resentatives of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of
South Vietnam, about half a dozen in all, rushed from the room.
Cheers went up in the street outside.
Barbara and I stayed until the end of the reception, then re-
turned to the U.S. compound to the sound of firecrackers going off
throughout Beijing. The next day, May Day, revolutionary music
played through loudspeakers in the streets. The music continued
for several days, celebrating not only May Day but the "Vietnam
people's victory." Display cases outside the Vietnamese embassy
carried photographs of U.S. leaders-though interestingly enough,
not Nixon or Kissinger, but former President Johnson and his Sec-
retary of Defense, Robert McNamara.
It was a difficult time for the small contingent of Americans
inside the People's Republic of China. Knowing that, some of my
colleagues from friendly nations approached me to underscore how
important it was for the United States not to abandon its commit-
ments in the Far East, especially in South Korea. The most interest-
ing of these comments came not from the representative of a West-
ern ally but a high Chinese official some weeks later. Speaking in a
tone that suggested his remarks were authorized, he told me, "The
United States has a useful role to play in Asia."
The Chinese can be oblique in their diplomatic relations, but
at times they say exactly what they mean. What the official was
telling me was that regardless of our opposing interests in Vietnam,
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LOOKING FORWARD
we had a common interest in dealing with the Russians. We could
be "useful" to each other.
Four of our five children were with us during the summer of
1975. The fifth, our second oldest son Jeb, then twenty-two, and
his wife Columba, had to stay in Houston, where Jeb held a job
with the Texas Commerce Bank. But George was there, at age
twenty-nine just out of Harvard Business School and about to go
into the oil business in Texas; along with Neil, twenty, an under-
graduate at Tulane; Marvin, nineteen, about to enter the University
of Virginia; and Dorothy, who celebrated her birthday that August
18, 1975, in a special way. She was christened at our church in
Beijing.
The ceremony was overdue, but for good reason. Over the
years we kept trying to get the entire family-grandparents, un-
cles, aunts-together for it, but were never able to bring the re-
union off. Finally, Doro had reached age sixteen, and it was clear
that we'd waited long enough. The occasion would be unique in
itself, something she'd always remember-being christened in
China by not one but three Chinese Christian clergymen, an Epis-
copalian, a Presbyterian, and a Baptist, in the church used by the
Beijing diplomatic community.
Because Dorothy's godparents-my sister Nancy Ellis; Betsy
Heminway's husband, Spike; and our family friend from Houston,
Mildred Kerr-couldn't be present, her brother Marvin acted as
their surrogate.
In the ceremony itself, questions and answers concerning
Dorothy's faith had to be translated by a militant atheist inter-
preter, who didn't seem too happy about repeating the religious
terms. Nevertheless the ceremony went off without any major
problem, and when it was concluded the ministers told Dorothy
she was now a lifelong member of their small church in a Commu-
nist land where, they said, "we will love you and always miss
you."
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145
Henry was back The Secretary of State arrived October 19,
this time with a high-priority agenda. He was in Beijing to lay the
groundwork for President Ford's official visit to China later in the
year. As always, the Secretary's schedule was hectic-three long
meetings with Vice Premier Deng in two days to work out the
details of a communique that would be issued after the President
and Chairman Mao met.
Not that anyone could program what two of the most power-
ful leaders in the world would say in their meetings. Only that
when chiefs of state sit down to talk, the common practice is to
have an outline, if not the text, of their conclusions already pre-
pared, before the visiting leader arrives. This defines the agenda of
the talks and minimizes the risk of misunderstandings on major
issues.
On the Chinese side, Foreign Minister Qiao sat in on the Kis-
singer-Deng talks; on the American side, the Secretary's staff, plus
Assistant Secretary Phil Habib, and I. I'd met Deng several times
before. He was the ascending power in China, likely to succeed to
the top position after Mao and Zhou were gone. An incessant
chain smoker and tea drinker, he was a man who projected himself
as a grassroots rural man-of-the-people, a rough-hewn soldier
from Szechuan Province in Southwest China.
Deng had the ability to balance toughness and affability in
perfect proportions in his meetings with foreign leaders, but his
mood during his sessions with Kissinger was notably tipped to-
ward aggressive, tough talk. His complaint-incredible as it might
sound-was that the United States was showing weakness in the
face of the Soviet threat to world peace. Except for the difference
in language, I might have been listening to a speech by Barry Gold-
water in 1964.
Deng, like Mao and other Chinese leaders, was concerned
about the direction taken by the U.S. policy of détente with the
Soviets. He charged that American policy toward the Russians was
similar to British and French policy toward Hitler at Munich in
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LOOKING FORWARD
1938-a policy of "appeasement," said Deng. Kissinger bridled,
but kept his poise. "A country that spends $110 billion for defense
cannot be said to be pursuing the spirit of Munich," replied the
Secretary. "Let me remind you that we were resisting Soviet ex-
pansionism when you two were allies, for your own reasons."
It was a sharp exchange, a good example of why presidential
summits need to be advanced through preliminary discussions. Fi-
nally, with the air cleared concerning U.S.-Chinese differences,
Kissinger said, "I do not feel that the President's visit should give
the impression that our countries are quarreling." Deng agreed.
"There is still time for further concrete discussion," he said.
The big unanswered question of the Kissinger advance trip,
however, was whether he'd be invited to visit the Chairman. The
Chinese approached his question, as always, in a circuitous way.
During lunch on October 21, Vice Foreign Minister Wang
Hairong pointedly mentioned that former British Prime Minister
Edward Heath had seen Mao during a recent visit. Wang, who was
Mao's grandniece, added that Heath had specifically requested the
meeting. Kissinger got the message. "If this is an official inquiry as
to whether I would like to meet with the Chairman," he said, "the
answer is yes."
A few hours later, Kissinger was in his third and final meeting
with Deng and Qiao at the Great Hall of the People, when I saw
Deng handed a paper with a few large Chinese characters on it.
Deng read the message, then interrupted the discussion to an-
nounce, "You will meet with the Chairman at six-thirty."
Mao lived in a secluded enclave for high-ranking officials not
far from the Great Hall of the People. We entered through an elab-
orate gate, drove past a lake and through several courtyards before
pulling up to the house. A Chinese television crew was waiting.
They followed us through several rooms of the villa, right into
Mao's sitting room.
Mao, then eighty-one, was sitting in an armchair. He was
helped to his feet by two women attendants. This was my first
D
I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED AN INVITATION FROM GOD
147
d,
meeting with the Chairman since coming to China, and I was
se
shocked by his physical condition, observed from a distance.
When he opened his mouth to greet Kissinger-who had been
:-
ushered in first, in order of rank-only guttural noises emerged.
I was ushered in next. At closer range, the Chairman's physical
appearance seemed to improve. He was tall, tanned, and still fairly
i-
husky, with a strong handclasp. He was wearing a well-tailored
S,
suit of the style that bears his name, brown socks, and a pair of
'e
black slippers with white rubber soles, the kind worn by millions
1.
of ordinary Chinese.
Kissinger asked him how he was feeling. Mao pointed to his
,
head. "This part works well," he said, "I can eat and sleep. These
parts"-he tapped his legs-"these parts do not work well. They
are not strong when I walk. I also have some trouble with my
g
lungs." He paused. "In a word, I am not well." Then he added,
smiling, "I am a showcase for visitors."
IS
I was seated to the left of Kissinger, who was seated to Mao's
e
left. Glancing around the room, I saw that it had built-in TV lights
IS
along one wall. There was a book of calligraphy on the table in
e
front of us. Across the room were several tables with medical tubes
of some sort and a small oxygen tank.
g
Mao was in a philosophical mood. "I am going to heaven
N
soon," he said, words that were stunning when spoken by the
leader of the world's biggest Communist country. "I have already
received an invitation from God."
"Don't accept it soon," replied Kissinger with a smile.
Mao, unable to speak coherently, was laboriously writing out
characters on a pad of paper, to make himself understood. He'd
write; then the two women at his side would leap to their feet,
study the words, and try to make sense out of what he was trying
to say. "I accept the orders of the Doctor," Mao wrote. It was a pun
on the title the Chinese used when referring to Henry Kissinger,
0
Ph.D.
Henry nodded, then changed the tenor of the talk. "I attach
S
great significance to our relationship," he said. Mao responded by
holding up a fist and the little finger of his other hand. "You are
148
LOOKING FORWARD
this," he said, pointing to the fist, "and we are that." He held up
his finger. "You have the atomic bomb and we don't." Since China
had had nuclear weapons for over a decade, Mao apparently meant
that the United States was stronger militarily.
"But China says that military strength is not the only thing,"
Kissinger said. "And we have common opponents."
Mao wrote his reply; then one of his assistants held it up for
us to see. It was written in English: YES.
There was an exchange between the Chairman and the Secre-
tary on the subject of Taiwan. Mao said the issue would be re-
solved in time, possibly in "a hundred" or even "several hundred"
years. The Chinese use such expressions, I'd concluded, to impress
foreigners with the fact that their history dates back several thou-
sand years. They see time and their own cultural patience as allies
in dealing with impatient Westerners.
Like Deng and most other leaders of the revolution, Mao had
a rustic background and often used Chinese barnyard expressions
in the normal course of diplomatic conversation; as when, on an-
other topic, he described a particular problem in U.S.-Chinese rela-
tions as no more important than a "fang go pi," which one of his
women assistants dutifully translated as "a dog fart."
That was one even Harry Truman didn't have in his barnyard
vocabulary.
As the meeting went on, Mao seemed to become stronger,
more alert. He gestured frequently, moved his head from side to
side and appeared stimulated by the conversation. And he contin-
ued to refer to the Almighty, once remarking, "God blesses you,
not us. God does not like us because I am a militant warlord, also a
Communist. No, he doesn't like me. He likes you three." He nod-
ded toward Kissinger, Winston Lord, and me.
The meeting was coming to a close when Mao drew Winston
and me into the conversation. "This ambassador," he said, ges-
turing toward me, "is in a plight. Why don't you come visit?"
"I would be honored," I replied, "but I'm afraid you're very
busy."
"Oh, I'm not busy," Mao said. "I don't look after internal
I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED AN INVITATION FROM GOD
149
affairs. I only read the international news. You should really come
visit."
I saw Mao once again, for the second and last time, when
President Ford made his state visit to Beijing five weeks later. By
then, my new assignment as Director of the Central Intelligence
Agency, had been announced. Talking to USLO staff experts after
the Kissinger meeting, I mentioned what he'd said about coming to
visit and said that I might just try to take him up on it. Their
impression was that the Chairman was just being diplomatic, so I
didn't follow up. A year later, however-after Mao had died—
Barbara and I visited China, and I mentioned the Chairman's re-
mark to a Chinese government official.
"You should have followed your instinct," he told me. "I can
assure you the Chairman would never have made such an invita-
tion unless he meant it."
LANGLEY, VIRGINIA/1976
TO: AMBASSADOR BUSH
FROM: HENRY A. KISSINGER
NOVEMBER 1, 1975
THE PRESIDENT IS PLANNING TO ANNOUNCE SOME MAJOR PERSONNEL SHIFTS
ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3, AT 7:30 P.M., WASHINGTON TIME. AMONG THOSE
SHIFTS WILL BE THE TRANSFER OF BILL COLBY FROM CIA.
THE PRESIDENT ASKS THAT YOU CONSENT TO HIS NOMINATING YOU AS THE
NEW DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY.
THE PRESIDENT FEELS YOUR APPOINTMENT TO BE GREATLY IN THE NATIONAL
INTEREST AND VERY MUCH HOPES THAT YOU WILL ACCEPT. YOUR DEDICATION
TO NATIONAL SERVICE HAS BEEN UNREMITTING, AND I JOIN THE PRESIDENT IN
HOPING THAT YOU WILL ACCEPT THIS NEW CHALLENGE IN THE SERVICE OF
YOUR COUNTRY.
"It is all very shocking," the young Chinese guide told a Brit-
ish journalist after word of my appointment as Director of the CIA
became known in Beijing. "Mr. Bush has been here a year, and
before that he was at the United Nations. And to think he's been a
spy all along!"
The guide's shock was only a little less than my own after I
received Henry's cable. Director of the CIA? I handed the wire to
Barbara and from the expression on her face knew we shared the
154
LOOKING FORWARD
same thought: New York, 1973. In Yogi Berra's phrase, it was déjà
vu all over again.
Watergate was the problem then, with President Nixon calling
me to Camp David to ask that I become Chairman of the Republi-
can National Committee to handle the political mess spilling over
from the west wing. Now I was being asked to leave another diplo-
matic post we both enjoyed, to return to Washington and take
charge of an agency battered by a decade of hostile Congressional
investigations, exposés, and charges that ran from lawbreaking to
simple incompetence.
I reread the opening line of Henry's cable:
THE PRESIDENT IS PLANNING TO ANNOUNCE SOME MAJOR PERSONNEL
SHIFTS
Then the last line:
REGRETTABLY, WE HAVE ONLY THE MOST LIMITED TIME BEFORE THE AN-
NOUNCEMENT, AND THE PRESIDENT WOULD THEREFORE APPRECIATE A MOST
URGENT RESPONSE.
There was no point cabling for further information-answers
to questions like WHO'S GOING WHERE, HENRY? or WHAT'S GOING ON?
Like the language of diplomacy, the language of politics has its
nuance. The tone of the Secretary's wire suggested that they
wanted a quick reply, no questions asked.
Colby was leaving. Wholesale changes were underway. Would
I take the CIA, yes or no?
The key words were THE PRESIDENT ASKS. Barbara read the cable,
handed it back, and said, "I remember Camp David." That's all.
Just "I remember Camp David."
What she specifically remembered about my trip to Camp
David in 1973 was that she hadn't wanted me to take the national
committee job. But when I returned that night, she knew, even
before I'd taken off my coat, what had happened. The President
had asked, and as long as what he'd asked me to do wasn't illegal
or immoral, and I felt I could handle the job, there was only one
answer I could give. Now, two years later, she knew there was only
one answer I could give this President. We'd soon be leaving Bei-
jing for Washington.
THE PRESIDENT Asks
155
Barbara had grown fond of China in our thirteen months
there, throwing herself into the study of Chinese history, art, and
architecture. She also had another, more personal concern about
our leaving to return to Washington. She was worried about the
effect the change of jobs would have on our kids. We both still
remembered the Watergate days, the grief they'd taken from some
of their classmates at school. If that was bad, what would life in
Washington be like for the children of the head of the CIA?
For that matter, what would the future in Washington hold for
the head of the CIA himself? Once past the impact of Henry's
cable on our personal lives, I had two instinctive reactions to what
it meant professionally.
First, politics was still my first interest. In the best of times the
CIA job wouldn't be considered a springboard to higher office, if
only because the director of the agency has to be nonpolitical.
Anyone who took the job, would have to give up any and all
political activity. As far as future prospects for elective office were
concerned, the CIA was marked DEAD END.
(Could that be what was happening? Bury Bush at the CIA?
George, living in the byzantine political atmosphere of a Commu-
nist capital is starting to get to you. The idea that anyone in Wash-
ington-not the President or Henry, but somebody else-might
have that in mind was absurd.
But how did Henry once put
it? "Even paranoids," he told a reporter, "have real enemies.")
My second reaction was concern over what it might mean
diplomatically. For over a year, I'd worked-we'd worked, because
Barbara had put as much into the job as I had-to develop a cli-
mate of mutual respect and friendship between China and the
United States, a people-to-people approach that could transcend
ideological divisions. In a low-key, informal way, we'd made prog-
ress breaking down some of the barriers of suspicion and distrust
that existed between our two countries. What would the Chinese
government think? That Bush the diplomat had been Bush the spy
all along?
When I expressed this fear to a friendly Western diplomat, he
reassured me with a story about another "CIA ambassador," Rich-
156
LOOKING FORWARD
ard Helms: A reception took place in Tehran the evening in 1973
when Helms's nomination to be U.S. ambassador to Iran was an-
nounced. The Soviet ambassador, himself a veteran of the KGB,
walked up to an Iranian government official and asked, "Well, Mr.
Minister, what do you think about the Americans naming their
number one spy ambassador to your country?" Taking a sip of
champagne (this was pre-Khomeini Iran), the pro-Western Iranian
replied, "Well, your Excellency, I think it is better than what the
Soviet Union did. They sent us their number ten spy."
My friend's optimistic view of how the Chinese would react
to my becoming CIA director was close to the mark. However
suspicious the Chinese might be about U.S. intentions, their dis-
trust of the Russians is greater. When word of my appointment
reached Beijing, Chinese officials, far from being appalled, were
openly pleased. As one of them confided, they felt they'd spent a
year "teaching" me their views on the Soviet threat and now, as
America's chief intelligence officer, I'd be able to "teach" them to
the President.
In fact, when President Ford visited China one month later—
before Barbara and I had left-Chairman Mao greeted me with the
remark, "You've been promoted," then told the President, "We
hate to see him go."
But the most significant indication that the Chinese weren't
upset by my appointment came when Vice Premier Deng invited
us to a private luncheon where he assured me I'd always be wel-
come in China-then smiling-"even as head of the CIA."*
So my concern about the diplomatic repercussions of Henry's
cable proved 180 degrees off course. In the long run, that would
also be true of its effect on my political future. But in the immedi-
ate weeks and months ahead that was by no means clear. After a
round of farewell functions, Barbara and I left Beijing with mixed
feelings: warm memories of our thirteen months in China, but glad
to be going home; satisfied with the job we'd done, but looking
down what apeared to be a political dead-end street.
* Two years later, we did return on a private visit. By then, Deng was running the govern-
ment.
ONLY THE PRESIDENT LANDS ON THE SOUTH LAWN
235
in lobby. No bubble in embassy so we "talk" by holding up signs,
figuring the place is bugged. Sign held up saying AFGHAN
"Oh yes, that situation is no better, по worse.
We don t get
close to discussing sensitive matters, but using the signs still seems like
a good idea
On the reviewing stand [later] you see them all,
the old and new leaders
Gorbachev, a new one; Romanof a new
one
The visit with Chernenko
He seems more robust than he
appeared standing out in the cold. Smiled now and then, but can t say
he was friendly. All in all, the President's decision not to come was
the right one
Saipan/China. En route to Beijing in mid-October 1985, we vis-
ited Saipan, bringing back memories of the last time I'd been there.
Sitting in the governor's house, looking out toward the blue-green
ocean, I could visualize the fleet-my carrier, the U.S.S. Jacinto and
the battleships in the distance, shelling the high ground-while my
squadron covered the landing at the beaches.
It had been the summer of 1944. I remembered the puffs of
smoke, the scene on the beaches as we came in close to strafe
enemy positions, somehow not feeling the battle, not the way they
felt it down there on the beaches.
There were the stories told later about the Japanese families
that threw themselves off the cliff at the end of the island, because
they'd been told the Americans were going to murder them all.
And even after that, of Japanese soldiers who went into the jungle
and dug in, even though their country had surrendered. It was hard
to believe there'd been a war on that beautiful, peaceful island
forty-one years before and that I'd been part of it.
Four days later we were in Beijing, where I saw change of a
different kind. As envoy to China ten years before, I used to won-
der if China would ever really modernize. Now there were govern-
ment officials, who'd been in Mao jackets in the 1970s, dressed in
three-piece suits, driving Mercedes touring cars instead of their
Red Flag autos.
There were other changes, more significant. Deng now talks
236
LOOKING FORWARD
about Taiwan differently. He says the island can keep its own
government, as well as economic and military system, and talks
about "one China, two systems." But some things don't change
and I guess never will. He still works his way through several
packs a day, smoking (I counted) eight cigarettes in the one hour
twenty minutes we talked.
They put us up at the Guest House, the same suite used by
President Reagan when he visited. On our last night there was a
small dinner-small for formal state dinners, about thirty guests in
all-of creamed snail soup, Beijing duck wrapped in seeded bis-
cuits, beef, California wine. The Chinese adapt. Li Xianien was
host. He got things off by saying this would be an evening of "true
friendship-no speeches. All those speeches at dinners sound the
same. They're tiresome." I said, "I couldn't agree more, thank you
very much," and tore up my speech. It was all relaxed, probably
the best formal dinner I've ever attended.
Different, all very different from the way it had been only ten
years before. There were only thirty people in the U.S. liaison of-
fice then. Now there are three hundred in the U.S. embassy, recog-
nition of the importance of our relationship to China, now and for
the future.
El Salvador. The idea was to stop over on my way home from
the inauguration of President Raúl Alfonsin in Buenos Aires. I told
our ambassador in San Salvador, Tom Pickering, that I'd do it, and
the stopover turned out to be one of those visits that stays with
you years later.
El Salvador was trying to combat a guerrilla movement clearly
sponsored by its Communist neighbor, Nicaragua. To survive, the
Salvadoran government needed U.S. aid. But the country's death
squads-extremists who'd murdered Archbishop Romero and four
American churchwomen in 1981, then two U.S. labor advisers in
1981-were jeopardizing our ability to get support funds through
Congress.
My job was to tell President Alvaro Magana and senior Salva-
doran leaders (including the man who would be elected to succeed
Magana, José Napoleon Duarte), and most important of all, the
UNCLASSIFIED
CIASSIFICATION
CIRCLE ONE BELOW
MODE
PAGES 3
IMMEDIATE
SECURE FAX #
DTG 221830Z
PRIORITY
ADMIN FAX # # 309
RELEASER
ROUTINE
FROM/LOCATION
1.
ROSEMARY GAUANT
TO/LOCATION/TIME OF RECEIPT
1.
STEPHENIE BLESSEY
2.
3.
4.
D
5.
6.
7.
INFORMATION ADDEES/LOCATION/TIME OF RECEIPT
1.
TOR : 2218357
2.
SPECIAL INSTRUC
UNCLASSIFIED
8
202 395 3911 USTR WASH DC
02/22/89 14:21
001
100 PAGE
22:6 S8, 22 833
/ OF C
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
UNITED STATES * /
International Trade Administration
Weshington. D.C. 20230
FAX NO. TO USE
Date: 2/21/89
OPB NO. 377-4453
OJ NO.: 377-0469
Time: 3:40
IEP NO.: 377-5444
FROM
NAME:
Rosemary Gallant
TEL. NO.: 322-3932
OFFICE SYMBOL/NUMBER: ITA/IEP/OPH FAX NO.:
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION:
PAGES TO FOLLOW: 2
TO
NAME: Stephanie Blessey
TEL. NO.: X7750
OFFICE SYMBOL/NUMBER: Rm 111
FAX NO. : 395-5222
395-5221 3911
MESSAGE
Statistics on us China Trade for 1985
Resent from USTR Central Deck 395-3417
DONATIMENT &
75 Years Stimulating America's Progress * 1913-1988
TRADE ,
POI
02. 22. 83 10:25AM *USDOC PACIFIC BASIN
FEB 22 '89 18:22
202 395 3911 F.. .5.001
Page
3
01/24/89
Table 3.-U.S. trade data
02.
0
2
Flow: Total exports
Type: F.a.s. value
2
FEB 22 I 89 S 9:23
Partner: China
N
002
(Thousands of dollars)
00
January November
:
Time period:
1
:
:
:
:
:
0
:
:
:
:
:
:
Ag/Nonag commodity
:
1987
:
1988
=
1983
:
1984
:
1985
:
1986
:
1987
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
=
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
02/22/89 14:22
:
:
:
3,105,403
3,488,357
:
3,893,962
:
4,476,628
:
I 0 ..
Total all commodities
2,173,133
:
3,004,030
:
3,851,738
:
:
:0--Agricultural
546,446
:
614,768
:
149,425
:
65,984
:
369,542
:
352,191
:
610,907
:
1,626,687
:
2,389,261
:
3,702,313
:
3,039,419
,
3,118,815
:
2,741,770
:
3,365,722
:
N
1--Mon-agricultural
I
:
:
I
:
(n)
202 395 3911 PAGE.002
:
:
:
Note: Compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
A
M
-
1/
*
C
a
U
0
0
202 395 3911 USTR WASH DC
F
A
c
I
F
H
0
B
A
0
H
2
©
PAGE PAGE.002 002
0 N T
FEB 22 '89 18:23
Page
1
01/24/89
Table 1.--U.S. trade data
Flow: General imports
003
82:6 68, 28 833
Type: C.i.f. value
Partner: China
(Thousands of dollars)
:
:
:
:
:
January-Movember
:
Time period:
:
:
Ag/Nonag commodity
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
1983
:
1984
:
1985
:
1986
:
1987
:
1987
:
1988
:
:
:
:
=
:
:
:
1
:
=
:
:
:
$
:
:
:
02/22/89 14:22
:
:
Total all commodities
2,476,774
:
3,381,157
$
4,224,242
:
5,240,517
:
6,910,501
:
6,428,199
:
8,398,194
,
0--Agricultural
189,190
:
213,354
:
221,291
:
224,447
$
269,445
$
248,439
:
285,743 :
-Non-agricultural
:
2,287,584
:
3,167,803
:
4,002,951
:
5,016,071
:
6,641,056
:
6,179,760
:
8,112,451
$
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
N H A H A W 22. 0 0 0 N N I H 02, 2. N 0 C 0 0 a (If 0 0 N T 00 * A .. 0
202 395 3911 PAGE.003
Note: Compiled from official statistics of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
202 395 3911 USTR WASH DC
8
800 PAGE
3 FO3 0 T
FEB 22 '89 18:23
CHINA, U.S. RELATIONS WITH
lent warlord (tuchun) era was followed by the
war, the 55,000-man Third Marine Amphibious
emergence of the Kuomintang and the subsequent
Corps was sent to North China to disarm and repatri-
division of the Kuomintang into Nationalist and
ate the Japanese and also-although assistance to the
Communist factions. In March 1927, after Chiang
Nationalists in a civil war was not to be direct-to
Kai-shek marched. on Shanghai, the Third Marine
hold the northern cities and to keep open the coal
Brigade under Maj. Gen. Smedley D. Butler arrived
mines and rail lines until Nationalist forces could be
to help protect the International Settlement. Butler
deployed northward. Meanwhile, Soviet forces had
left the Fourth Marine Regiment at Shanghai and
occupied Manchuria and turned over key ports and
proceeded to Tientsin with the rest of his brigade,
cities to the Chinese Communists. In January 1946,
including the Sixth Marine Regiment, remaining
Gen. George C. Marshall arrived to arbitrate between
there until January 1929.
the Nationalists and Communists. There was a short-
The ebb and flow of Sino-Japanese hostilities
lived truce, but by July 1946 it was obvious that
beginning in 1931 caused further deployments of
Marshall had failed in his objective of achieving
U.S. troops to China. In 1932 the Thirty-first U.S. In-
peaceful unification of China.
fantry Regiment joined the Fourth Marines in Shang-
The size of the U.S. Marine occupation force in
hai. Again in 1937 the marines in Shanghai were
China was progressively reduced until by the spring
brought up to brigade strength with the arrival of the
of 1949 just two battalions were left. These were gar-
Sixth Marines. In December 1937 the U.S. gunboat
risoning the port facilities at Tsingtao that were used
Panay was sunk in the Yangtze by Japanese air at-
by the U.S. Seventh Fleet, successor to the Asiatic
tack. In 1938 the Sixth Marines departed, as did the
Fleet. By then the Nationalists had been defeated in
Fifteenth U.S. Infantry from Tientsin. The Fourth
the decisive winter battle of Hwai-Hai. By the end of
Marines left Shanghai in late November 1941 for the
June, the last marine and naval forces had left Tsing-
Philippines and were eventually captured at Cor-
tao. The new government of the People's Republic of
regidor.
China was formally installed at Peking on Oct. 1,
The China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater was created
1949.
in January 1942 with Chiang Kai-shek as com-
[B. M. Frank and H. I. Shaw, Jr., "North China Marines,"
mander in chief and Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell as
Victory and Occupation; H. D. Perry, The Panay Incident;
his chief of staff. After the bitter retreat from Burma,
C. Romanus and R. Sunderland, Stilwell's Mission to
Stilwell proposed a thirty-division Chinese National-
China, Stilwell's Command Problems, and Time Runs Out
ist force for a fresh Burma campaign in the spring of
in CBI; B. W. Tuchman, Stilwell and the American Experi-
Philip Smith of
ence in China, 1911-1945.]
1943. Chiang was more attracted to the air strategy
EDWIN H. SIMMONS
proposed by Maj. Gen. Claire L. Chennault, who ear-
lier had organized the American Volunteer Corps
("Flying Tigers"). With the entry of the United
CHINA, U.S. RELATIONS WITH. Over the last
china
States into World War II, Chennault had been given
two centuries American attitudes toward China have
command of the U.S. China Air Task Force, which
ranged from attitudes of profound respect, avuncular
later became the Fourteenth Air Force. In May 1944,
concern, and affection in the early 19th century all the
B-29's were deployed to Chinese airfields from which
way to uncompromising hostility during the first two
they could reach Manchuria, Korea, and Japan itself.
decades of the Communist regime on the mainland.
The Japanese reacted with a sixteen-division offen-
In 1789, the year George Washington was inaugu-
sive that overran most of the airfields, causing the
rated as president of the United States, fifteen Ameri-
B-29's to be withdrawn to India. Chiang asked for
can vessels were carrying on trade with China. Amer-
Stilwell's recall. The CBI was split into two
ican images of China at that time were deeply colored
theaters-China and India-Burma-and Lt. Gen. Al-
by the Marco Polo story. When the Empress of China
bert C. Wedemeyer was sent out to replace Stilwell in
sailed into Canton Harbor (1784), Cathay was seen by
China.
Americans as a great, ancient, and exotic culture
China's disappointing contribution to the war was
devoted to the arts and sciences. Early American writ-
in large part the result of Chiang's deliberate policy of
ings about China are permeated with a feeling of
conserving his strength for what he foresaw as a life-
profound respect and admiration. That the Chinese
and-death struggle with the Chinese Communists,
had invented such things as paper, gunpowder, and
who had effectively used the war years to consolidate
the compass and had great sages and philosophers
their position in North China. With the end of the
was known to the founders of the American republic.
26
Naval History Library
Navy Ref-433-4131 Library
Capt. Booth
China
toast
Toast by President Bush at Welcoming Banquet
#1
/
Beijing
February 25,, 1989
President Yang, distinguished guests.
Barbara and I are delighted to be returning once again to
China. It's been fourteen years since we made our home here
and during that time, we've paid your fascinating country
several visits. And, each time we come, I say to Barbara:
"Just look at that skyline! Just look how the neighborhood has
changed!"
But the changes in China have gone far beyond new buildings
of steel and stone. The daily life of the Chinese people has
been transformed as well. Thanks to your reforms -- courageous
reforms, and I don't minimize the difficulties --- the Chinese
people now have more opportunities to express themselves and to
make important decisions in their personal and professional
lives.
We have a saying in the West that "Rome was not built in a
day." Clearly, accomplishing any major task worthy of a great
nation takes time, perseverance, and hard work.
- 2 -
Our two governments have much work to do. But I would say
this: we can rely on the solid relationship we have
established with each other, a relationship based on correct
domestic and foreign policies that have made this progress
possible.
You know, experience is a great teacher. My experience of
China since the mid-seventies gives me confidence that we will
succeed in building a better future for our children and
grandchildren -- a future of peace, and hope, and plenty.
Let me talk a moment more about that experience. In 1975,
when Barbara and I first arrived in Beijing, our two countries
were in the early phases of reestablishing contact after almost
a quarter of a century of estrangement and hostility. The
going was tough. But we found a common basis for overcoming
our differences. You can find it in the principles of the
historic Shanghai Communique, signed seventeen years ago this
coming Tuesday. Those principles remain valid today and by
following them, our relationship can weather the test of time
in the future, just as it has in the past.
Look at our economic progress together. Our economic
relationship has grown from near zero to a two way trade of 14
billion dollars. And it's true in education as well. Tens of
thousands of Chinese students are now studying in U.S.
institutions of higher learning, just as thousands of U.S.
scholars have studied and taught in the farthest corners of
China.
3 -
Our program of scientific and technological exchanges now is
intense and broad-ranging. We have an active program of
military cooperation that is forging ties of friendship between
our defense establishments.
And, we have found ways to address without rancor the
particularly sensitive issue which we call Taiwan. In the
three joint communiques that form the basis of U.S. relations
with the People's Republic of China, the United States has
consistently affirmed that our policy is based on this bedrock
principle: there is but one China, and its integrity must be
respected. Our adherence to this principle also reflects our
conviction that the deeply rooted differences that remain on
both sides of the Taiwan Strait can best be resolved peacefully
within a one China framework.
There has been some encouraging progress achieved on both
sides of the Taiwan Strait over the last few years. The
expanded family contacts, easier travel, indirect trade, and
other forms of peaceful interchange -- all this helps and it
would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. And why has
it happened? Above all because this progress reflects the
common roots, traditions and interests of those directly
involved -- the Chinese people themselves. This change for the
better has enabled the Chinese people on both sides of the
Taiwan Strait to turn their remarkable energies to more
constructive tasks -- economic development and improving the
quality of life.
- 4 -
All of these trends are consistent with America's
longstanding interest in a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan
question. Our policies will continue to foster further
progress on both sides of the Strait by the Chinese people
themselves.
Let me sum it all up. We have the foundation and the
desire to build our bilateral relationship between the United
States and the People's Republic of China still further. The
house of peace we are building together is both solid enough
and flexible enough to meet the challenges and the
opportunities of a changing world. I want to say a few words
now about one of those areas of the wider world on which we
found much to agree -- our respective relations with the Soviet
Union. We are pleased that improved relations between China
and the Soviet Union can contribute to the search for peace in
Cambodia and stability in Korea. I hope this is part of a
larger pattern of reduced global tensions. That would be in
the interest of China, of the Soviet Union, of the United
States, of East Asia, and of the world.
But let's be clear about the origin of some of these
hopeful signs of change. The process of improving
Sino-American relations begun in the 1970s helped to launch the
world toward a better way of doing things -- of using
negotiations rather than force to resolve serious international
differences.
- 5 -
Together, and individually, the United States and China
have helped to set the pace for peaceful and productive change
around the world. In country after country, we see nations
decentralizing their economies, opening up to international
commerce and increasing the role of market forces. The reforms
in China embarked upon ten years ago under Deng Xiaoping's
farsighted leadership have fostered a decade of impressive
domestic growth and a remarkable expansion of U.S. -China trade.
Together, and individually, China and the United States
have opposed policies of intimidation and domination by
others. Let us expand our cooperation in this area.
The INF Treaty, with its provision for elimination of
intermediate range missiles from Asia, exemplifies American
determination to do SO. For our part, as we press forward in
the arms reduction process with the Soviet Union, the United
States will not lose sight of the dangers posed to other
countries by the proliferation of deadly technologies,
particularly those in regions of the world marked by conflict
and tension. I have in mind nuclear weapons, chemical weapons,
and the means for their delivery. I don't want to see ever
again the sight of a mother helpless to ward of the winds of
death from chemical warfare. America's goal is not to deny
countries the means to insure their own security. Our goal is
a safer world.
- 6 -
As nuclear powers and permanent members of the UN Security
Council with a special responsibility for preserving world
peace, China and the United States owe it to mankind to work
together. Let us free the world from the specter of conflicts
fought with such weapons -- wars which could cause destruction
on an unimaginable scale, especially among civilian populations.
It's a big job and a tough job. But experience should give
us both strength and wisdom. Just as we were able to transform
relations between China and the United States, so the two of
us, working separately and together, can help transform the
world. We have the vision of nations living as peaceful
neighbors, where right, not might, will rule international
relations. I look forward to a flourishing Sino-American
relationship in the years to come, to the benefit of both our
countries, of the region, and of the world.
Over the years, the expansion of U.S.-China relations has
been a source of deep personal satisfaction to Barbara and
myself. We spent some of the happiest moments of our lives
here. And I believe we did our little bit to confirm the
clarity and coherence of the strategic vision which drew us
together in the first place.
Now that vision is in our hands, yours and mine. Let us
all be worthy of it.
- 7 -
And so, let me ask you all to join me and Barbara in a
toast:
- to the health of President Yang;
to the health of Chairman Deng, general Secretary Zhao,
and Premier Li;
to Barbara's and my dear close friends here tonight;
and to Sino-American friendship.
Ganbei!