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1252610
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12/4/75 - Remarks Upon Proposing a Toast in Honor of Chinese Officials at a Return Banquet in Peking, China
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1252610
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document
title
12/4/75 - Remarks Upon Proposing a Toast in Honor of Chinese Officials at a Return Banquet in Peking, China
citationUrl
collections
President's Speeches and Statements Reading Copies (Ford Administration)
Reading Copies of Presidential Speeches and Statements
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China
Presidential trips
Speeches, addresses, etc.
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1252610
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4
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1975-12-04
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12
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1975
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4
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1975-12-04
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12
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1975
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The original documents are located in Box 21, "12/4/75 - Remarks Upon Proposing a Toast
in Honor of Chinese Officials at a Return Banquet in Peking, China" of the President's
Speeches and Statements: Reading Copies at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box 21 of President's Speeches and Statements: Reading Copies at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
PRESIDENT'S TOAST AT RETURN BANQUET
DECEMBER 4, 1975
MR. VICE PREMIER MR FOREIGN MINISTER AND ALL CHINESE
FRIENDS HERE TONIGHT.
ON BEHALF OF MRS. FORD AND ALL THE AMERICANS PRESENT,
I EXTEND TO YOU A WARM WELCOME.
2
TOMORROW MORNING WE LEAVE CHINA. IT HAS BEEN A
SIGNIFICANT VISIT.
THE WIDE-RANGING TALKS WHICH I HAVE HELD WITH CHAIRMAN
MAO AND WITH VICE PREMIER TENG HAVE BEEN FRIENDLY, CANDID,
3
SUBSTANTIAL\AND CONSTRUCTIVE WE DISCUSSED OUR
DIFFERENCES WHICH ARE NATURAL IN A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
TWO COUNTRIES WHOSE IDEOLOGIES, SOCIETIES AND CIRCUM-
STANCES DIVERGE BUT WE ALSO CONFIRMED THAT WE HAVE
IMPORTANT COMMON POINTS.
4
WE REVIEWED OUR BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP, THE VISIT
CONFIRMED THAT ALTHOUGH OUR RELATIONS ARE NOT YET
NORMALIZED, THEY ARE GOOD THEY WILL BE GRADUALLY
IMPROVED BECAUSE WE BOTH BELIEVE THAT A STRENGTHENING
5
OF OUR TIES BENEFITS OUR TWO PEOPLES
I AM CONFIDENT
THAT THROUGH OUR MUTUAL EFFORTS WE CAN CONTINUE TO
BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WHICH ADVANCES THE NATIONAL
INTERESTS OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC
6
OF CHINA IN OUR TALKS, I REAFFIRMED THAT THE UNITED
STATES IS COMMITTED TO COMPLETE THE NORMALIZATION
OF RELATIONS WITH THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON
THE BASIS OF THE SHANGHAI COMMUNIQUE.
7
OUR BILATERAL TIES ARE IMPORTANT BUT BOTH OF US ATTACH
EVEN GREATER SIGNIFICANCE TO THE INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS
OF OUR RELATIONSHIP,
IT WAS CERTAIN COMMON PERCEPTIONS
AND COMMON INTERESTS WHICH BROUGHT OUR COUNTRIES
8
TOGETHER FOUR YEARS AGO. AMONG THESE IS OUR AGREEMENT
NOT TO SEEK HEGEMONY OVER OTHERS AND OUR FUNDAMENTAL
OPPOSITION TO THE EFFORTS OF OTHERS TO IMPOSE HEGEMONY
IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD THIS REFLECTS THE REALISM WHICH
9
IS A HALLMARK OF OUR RELATIONSHIP. AND REALISM IS A
FIRMER BASIS THAN SENTIMENT FOR SOUND AND DURABLE
TIES.
IT IS ONLY NATURAL THAT THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
AND THE UNITED STATES WILL FOLLOW THEIR OWN POLICIES
10
AND TACTICS, GOVERNED BY THEIR PERCEPTIONS OF THEIR
OWN NATIONAL INTERESTS THE UNITED STATES IS FIRMLY
DEDICATED TO AN INTERNATIONAL ORDER OF PEACE
JUSTICE
AND PROSPERITY FOR ALL. THE TASK WHICH CONFRONTS US
-
11
WHICH CONFRONTS ALL PEOPLES OF THE WORLD
IS NOT
EASY IT REQUIRES BOTH FIRMNESS OF PRINCIPLE AND
TACTICS ADAPTED TO PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES, IT
REQUIRES NATIONAL STRENGTH AND THE WILL TO USE IT,
12
AS WELL AS PRUDENCE TO AVOID UNNECESSARY CONFLICT
IT REQUIRES ACCEPTANCE OF PEACEFUL CHANGE TO
ACCOMMODATE HUMAN ASPIRATIONS FOR PROGRESS. ALL
MUST HELP TO BUILD A DURABLE AND EQUITABLE INTERNATIONAL
13
SYSTEM THOUGH INEVITABLY CONTRIBUTIONS WILL OFTEN
BE DIVERSE
I BELIEVE THAT OUR DISCUSSIONS THIS WEEK HAVE
SIGNIFICANTLY PROMOTED THOSE OBJECTIVES WE SHARE
14
CONCERNING BOTH OUR BILATERAL RELATIONS AND THE
INTERNATIONAL SCENE. THEY WILL BENEFIT OUR TWO PEOPLES
AS WELL AS THE PEOPLES OF THE WORLD
IN CLOS ING I WISH TO EXPRESS THE SINCERE APPRECIATION
OF MRS. FORD AND MYSELF AND THOSE TRAVELING WITH US,
15
FOR THE WARM HOSPITALITY WE HAVE RECEIVED MR. VICE
PREMIER
I
HOPE THAT YOU WILL CONVEY MY PERSONAL
THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE HELPED TO MAKE OUR VIS IT so
PLEASURABLE.
16
I ASK YOU TO JOIN ME IN A TOAST:
-- TO THE HEALTH OF CHA IRMAN MAO;
-- TO THE HEALTH OF PREMIER CHOU EN-LAI;
-- TO THE HEALTH OF VICE PREMIER TENG HS IAO-PING:
(DUNG-SEE-OW PING)
17
-- TO THE HEALTH OF ALL CHINESE FRIENDS HERE TONIGHT;
-- TO THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THE AMERICAN AND CHINESE
PEOPLE.
END