CONFIDENTIAL
© Pl
сору
to RD (FE) NAD
110
British Embassy
3100 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 20008
Telex Domestic USA 89-2370/89-2384
Telex International 64224(WUI)/248308(RCA)/440015(ITT) Telephone (202) 462-1340
J T Masefield Esq
FED
FCO
HKK cool!
bur reference
-Our reference
Date
PA
REGISTRY Action Taken
RECEIVED *** #SGIVIPY NO. ST
201978
GON
SK OFFICER
020/301/1
акад TREA Assessments
walker,
Planning Staff
LOD (BS13) (~DSI1) DOT (CRE4)
1 September 1978
کیا
Hayward
ur tile
ur Sammel
Dear Masefieys
US/CHINA:
NORMALISATION
Z blix
Тоне Tow. 6017
1. The official public line here on normalisation with China remains unchanged. I enclose a copy of the latest pronouncement by President Carter (from his press conference of 17 August). The Administration remain committed to the principles of the Shanghai Communique, but has no timetable for the establishment of full diplomatic relations. "I just cannot give you a time schedule".
2.
Previously,
Most observers seem to agree (or fear) that Carter will not go for normalisation until after the November Congressional elections, and then only if he and his White House staff decided that the right kind of Congress has been elected. In an effort to see if the State Department were making any dispositions, I called on Don Anderson (Deputy PRC Country Director) and Harvey Feldman (Taiwan Country Director) this week. Anderson said that since Brzezinski's visit to China, the Chinese had repeatedly urged faster movement towards normalisation. This represented a distinct change in policy. they had appeared content for the Americans to go at their own pace and had seemed to understand the various contraints on American policy. (Previously these were real enough: the fag-end of the Ford Administration, then a brand-new President with more urgent pieces of business - eg Panama - to get out of the way. There are still wider political considerations (eg SALT) that may lead the President to bide his time. But issues like SALT are unlikely to impress the Chinese.) But Anderson confirmed that there were strong voices in the Administration calling for the President to "play the China card", and soon.
3. Harvey Feldman had the same story. I asked him about the number of US military personnel remaining on Taiwan. He said there were now between 900 and 1000, including Department of Defense civilian personnel. This number was being reduced by attrition: as certain officers' and officials' tours came to an end they were not being replaced. The total should drop to around 700 by the end of this year. It would then remain constant until normalisation. The Military Assistance Group for example was already down to six people, whose task was monitoring military aid given in the past.
CONFIDENTIAL
/Feldman
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