Three Communiques

The first communique (Feb. 28, 1972), formally The Shanghai Communique, summarizes the landmark dialogue begun by President Richard Nixon and Premier Chou En-lai during February 1972. Some of the issues addressed in this communique include the two sides' views on Vietnam, the Korean Peninsula, India & Pakistan and the Kashmir region, and perhaps most importantly, the Taiwan (Republic of China) issue. Essentially, both sides agreed to respect each other's national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The United States formally recognized the desire of all Chinese for a unified and undivided China.

The second communique (Jan. 1, 1979), The Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, formally announces the commencement of normal relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China. In so doing, the United States recognized that the government of the People's Republic of China was the sole legal government of China. In addition, the United States government declared that it would end formal political relations with the people of Taiwan while preserving economic and cultural ties. Both sides reaffirmed their wish to reduce the risk of international conflict as well as avoidance of hegemony of any nation in the Asia-Pacific region.

The third and final communique (Aug. 17, 1982), reaffirms the desire of both sides to further strenghten economic, cultural, educational, scientific, technological, ties. Both sides also reaffirmed the statements made about the Taiwan issue in the previous communique. Although no definitive conclusions were reached on the issue of arms sale to Taiwan, the United States did declare its intent to gradually decrease its sale of arms to Taiwan.

External links