CONFIDENTIAL
ANNEX A to
Circular '0' 116/81 Home 'B' 61/81
HMG'S ATTITUDE TO TAIWAN
1972 Joint Communiqué
1. The official joint communiqué issued in London and Peking on 13 March 1972 on the agreement between HMG and the Government of the People's Republic of China to exchange Ambassadors contains the following statements:-
'The Government of the United Kingdom, acknowledging the position of the Chinese Government that Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China, have decided to remove their official representation in Taiwan on 13 March.
'The Government of the United Kingdom recognise the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China.
'The Government of the People's Republic of China appreciates the above stand of the Government of the United Kingdom.'
Status of Taiwan
2.
In answer to questions about our attitude to the status of Taiwan, we undertook to the Chinese to limit any reply to the following wording:-
'The Government of the United Kingdom acknowledge the position of the Chinese Government that Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China. Both the Government of the People's Republic of China and Taipei maintain that Taiwan is a part of China. We held the view both at Cairo and Potsdam that Taiwan should be restored to China. That view has not changed. We think that the Taiwan question is China's internal affair to be settled by the Chinese people themselves,'
CONFIDENTIAL