TNAG-1156-FCO40-1436-Visits-by-FCO-Ministers-to-Hong-Kong-1982 — Page 174

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sales by any country to Taiwan.

Reading from a prepared brief,

Mr Zhang continued that US arms sales to Taiwan constituted a

grave interference in the internal affairs of China, hampered

the return of Taiwan to the Motherland and peaceful reunification

of China; further, they violated the agreement reached on the

establishment of diplomatic relations and the recognised principles

of international law. Recently the leaders of China and America

had met in Cancun and Washington. Their talks had covered

bilateral relations and in particular arms sales to Taiwan.

Sino-US talks would contiue. In the joint communiqué issued on

the establishment of Sino-US relations the US had recognised that

there was only one China; that the Government of the People's

Repbulic of China was the sole legal Government of China; and

that Taiwan was part of China. The US was therefore not

entitled to sell arms to Taiwan in violation of international

law and the norms governing relations between states. In China's

view this problem had been left over by history: when China and

the US had reached agreement to establish diplomatic relations

it had remained unresolved. China had hoped that once diplomatic

relations were established it could be settled gradually but three years had now passed with no progress. There was a limit

to China's tolerance; such a state of affairs could not be

allowed to continue for too long.

15.

Mr Zhang said there was a mistaken body of opinion in the US that China's first consideration was for global strategy

and that as long as the US continued to oppose the Soviet Union

China would be prepared to swallow any bitter pill on other

matters. But China would spare no effort to safeguard its

sovereignty and territorial integrity. It was unimaginable that

China could on the one hand oppose hegemonism and on the other

allow the US to interfere in China's internal affairs. The

Chinese Government had frequently declared its hope that the Taiwan quesiton could be solved peacefully. On New Year's Day 1979 it published an open letter to Taiwan compatriots expressing the hope that Taiwan would quickly be reunited with the Motherland.

In September 1981 the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the

NPC, Ye Jianying, had put forward a nine-point proposal on

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/reunification.