The Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations on January 1, 1979 was announced on December 15, 1978 (16th in China), which established official relations between the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
(commonly called "China").
Its announcement coincided with the ending of U.S. official recognition of the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(now commonly known as "Taiwan"), which was announced by President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
in December 1978. Carter also announced the withdrawal of all U.S. military personnel from
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
and the end of the
Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty signed with the ROC. However, the
Taiwan Relations Act
The Taiwan Relations Act (TRA; ) is an Act of Congress, act of the United States Congress. Since the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, formal recognition of the China, People's Republic of China, the Act has defined ...
passed by the unequivocal support of
US Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
(and signed by the
Carter Administration
Jimmy Carter's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 39th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Jimmy Carter, his inauguration on January 20, 1977, and ended on January 20, 1981. Carter, a Democratic Party ...
) shortly thereafter continued to provide the legal framework as a US domestic law to maintain commercial, cultural, and other relations without official Government representation and without diplomatic relations of the unofficial relations in the form of the
American Institute in Taiwan.
Beyond formal recognition, the communiqué reaffirms the principles agreed upon in the
Shanghai Communiqué, released almost seven years earlier.
Summary points
The American Institute of Taiwan had outlined 9 core summary points in the 1979 agreement between the United States and China.
1. The US recognized that the Government of the People's Republic of China as "the sole legal Government of China", and it acknowledged the Chinese position that "there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China". Additionally the US would continue to maintain cultural, commercial and unofficial relations with Taiwan, and that the relationship between China and US were normalized.
2. That the "question of United States arms sales to Taiwan" was not settled during negotiations between the two countries.
3. That both sides will have "respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity" and to not interfere in each other's "internal affairs".
4. The Chinese Government emphasizes that "the question of Taiwan is China’s internal affair".
5. The US Government states that it "attaches great importance to its relation with China", and reaffirmed that it has "no intention of infringing on Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity", or on interfering in the internal affairs of China, nor will it be pursuing a policy of “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan.”
6. In taking in awareness of each other's statement on the issue of arming Taiwan, the United States Government states that it doesn't "seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan", and instead "intends gradually to reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan" over a period of time "leading to a final solution".
7. To achieve bringing about a "final settlement" on "the question of United States arms sales to Taiwan", both countries will strive to make "every effort" to engage in measures and generate conditions that are "conducive to the thorough settlement" of the issue.
8. That the development of United States – China relations would not only be in the interests of both countries but also "conducive to peace and stability in the world".
9. In order to achieve a healthy progression of United States-China relations and maintain global peace, the two governments "reaffirm the principles" that was agreed on by both sides in the "Shanghai Communique and the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations", and that the two sides will stay in contact and engage in "appropriate consultations on bilateral and international issues of common interest".
Differences in wording regarding sovereignty over Taiwan
In the Joint Communiqué, for the position that "there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China ()", the verb in the English text of the United States is "acknowledges", and qualified that as "Chinese position", while the verb in the Chinese text of the China is "" implying agreement. Compared with the wording of the previous point, there are obvious differences.
According to the source, during the final proofreading stage on the eve of the communiqué,
Zhang Wenjin, then Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, discovered the differences in the US government's wording between views of Taiwan and views of the recognition of the Chinese government, so he resolutely the Chinese word of views on Taiwan is set to "" to make it equivalent to the English word "recognizes", in line with the interests of the Chinese government;
U.S. diplomat
Harvey Julien Feldman pointed out in an interview in 1999 that
James Stapleton Roy, the deputy director of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing who participated in the negotiations at the time, was also aware of this translation change, but Feldman believed that Roy was trying to normalize Sino-U.S. relations as soon as possible, so remained silent about it.
Thereafter, both governments announced this Communiqué simultaneously.
Since then, successive U.S. governments have insisted that they only just know (which means they did not agree yet) that "there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China",
[What Is the U.S. “One China” Policy, and Why Does it Matter?](_blank)
, Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. From its founding in 1962 until 1987, it was an affiliate of Georgetown University, initially named the Center for Strategic and Inte ...
, 2017-01-13, "The United States did not, however, give in to Chinese demands that it recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan......Instead, Washington acknowledged the Chinese position that Taiwan was part of China. For geopolitical reasons, both the United States and the PRC were willing to go forward with diplomatic recognition despite their differences on this matter. When China attempted to change the Chinese text from the original acknowledge to recognize, Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher told a Senate hearing questioner, “ regard the English text as being the binding text. We regard the word ‘acknowledge’ as being the word that is determinative for the U.S.” In the August 17, 1982, U.S.-China Communique, the United States went one step further, stating that it had no intention of pursuing a policy of “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan.”To this day, the U.S. “one China” position stands: the United States recognizes the PRC as the sole legal government of China but only acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China." they have also stated this attitude on many occasions,
Taiwan Communique and Separation of Powers: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Separation of Powers of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session, on Taiwan Communique and Separation of Powers
,第31頁,United States Congress. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Separation of Powers,1983,"The position of the United States is eminently clear. The official position has been that the United States "recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. " It has also "acknowledged the Chinese position that Taiwan is a part of China, but the United States has not itself agreed to this position." and they believe that only the English text is binding on the U.S. government. On the other hand, the Chinese government insists that the Chinese text is also binding on the U.S. government, and therefore requires the U.S. government to accept and agree with the view that "there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China".
See also
* One-China policy
''One China'' is a phrase describing the relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) based on mainland China, and the Republic of China (ROC) based on the Taiwan Area. "One China" asserts that there is only one ''de jure'' C ...
* Three Communiques
* Sino-American relations
* '' Goldwater v. Carter''
References
External links
Full Text of Communiqué
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations
1979 in the United States
1979 in China
Cold War treaties
China–United States relations
Taiwan–United States relations
Cross-strait relations
Treaties concluded in 1979
Treaties entered into force in 1979
Treaties of the People's Republic of China
Treaties of the United States
Presidency of Jimmy Carter