The Case for Recognizing Peking Now—or in 1992

Abstract

If Secretary of State Vance's “exploratory” trip to China proved nothing else, it demonstrated once again that because our relations with Taiwan are the main obstacles to recognizing the People's Republic of China, it is Taiwan, not mainland China, that poses the main problem for American foreign policy in Asia. To a man the Chinese reiterated their conditions for establishing relations: abrogate the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1954; break diplomatic relations with Taiwan; and withdraw the American military personnel from the island. With respect to the general question of Taiwan, they all referred back to the PRC section of the Shanghai Communique (published jointly with our own):The Taiwan question is the crucial question obstructing the normalization of relations between China and the United States; the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of China; Taiwan is a province of China which has long been returned to the motherland; the liberation of Taiwan is China's internal affair in which no other country has the right to interfere; and all U.S. forces and military installations must be withdrawn from Taiwan. The Chinese Government firmly opposes any activities which aim at the creation of “one China, two governments,” “two Chinas” and “independent Taiwan” or advocate that “the status of Taiwan remains to be determined” [The “Shanghai Communique,” February 27, 1972].