The Establishment of Sino-U.S. Diplomatic Relations and Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping's visit to the United States

After his assumption of office in early 1977, the U.S. President Jimmy Carter sent his Secretary of State Vance and his White House National Security Assistant Zbigniew Brzezinski to visit China in August 1977 and May 1978 respectively to hold talks on the normalization of Sino-U.S. relations. At the time when Vance visited China, the U.S. Government was not yet finally determined to accept the three principles China raised for establishing diplomatic relations between China and the United States. By the time when Brzezinski visited China, the Carter Administration has made up its mind to establish diplomatic relations with China first and then to negotiate with the Soviet Union from a position of superiority with an attempt to check the momentum of Soviet expansion and to fortify the global strategic status of the United States. During his visit, Brzezinski expressed that President Carter was determined to normalize Sino-U.S. relations before his first term ended, and that the United States was ready to accept the three principles set forth by China for the establishment of diplomatic relations (namely, the U.S. must sever its diplomatic relations with Taiwan, abrogation of the mutual defence treaty between the U.S. and Taiwan and the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from Taiwan). He also expressed the hope (not as a condition) that when the U.S. side said it expected a peaceful solution to the Taiwan question which was purely an internal affair of China, it would not meet with an obvious refutation from China. He announced that the U.S. had authorized Leonard Woodcock, Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office in China, to conduct detailed negotiations with the Chinese side on the normalization of Sino-U.S. relations.

China responded positively to the message brought by Brzezinski in early July, the two sides started negotiations in Beijing on the establishment of diplomatic relations. The Taiwan question was the key issue in the negotiations. After nearly half a year's negotiations, the two sides finally reached the following agreement: a. The United States acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but on China and Taiwan is part of China. It recognizes the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. Within the context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan. b. On the occasion of the normalization of Sino-U.S. relations, the U.S. Government will announce the immediate severance of its "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, it will completely withdraw from Taiwan and the Taiwan Strait U.S. forces and military installations before 1 April, 1979 and will inform the Taiwan authorities of the termination of the mutual Defense Treaty. c. China and the United States will recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations as of 1 January, 1979, and exchange ambassadors and establish Embassy from 1 March. On the basis of this agreement, the two sides issued the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America on the evening of 16 December 1978.