PRESIDENT NIXON TO VISIT CHINA

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32661, 17 July 1971, Page 1

PRESIDENT NIXON TO VISIT CHINA

<N.Z. Press Association— Copyright) WASHINGTON, July 16. President Nixon has been invited to visit China before May, 1972, and the President has accepted the invitation. The President’s announcement of this is seen as a dramatic indication that the United States and China are moving fast towards settling 22 years of antagonism which once took them to war. The invitation from Premier Chou En-lai was made during a secret visit to Peking by Mr Nixon’s foreign policy adviser (Dr Henry Kissinger) a week ago.

The surprise development was broadcast to the American nation by the President last night. It was a major development in American efforts to build a lasting peace in the world, he said.

Mr Nixon’s announcement was the most dramatic foreign policy development since he took office two years ago. Just as surprising was the disclosure that Dr Kissinger had slipped secretly into China from Pakistan for three days during his Asian tour.

The invitation to the President marks a rapid move towards better relations by the two Powers whose armies fought bitterly in the Korean War.

A full-scale review of the traditional American opposition to a seat for mainland China at’the United Nations

has been proceeding in Washington since last year. The United Nations Secre-tary-General (U Thant) said that Mr Nixon’s decision to visit Peking had "opened a new chapter in the history of international relations.” But Nationalist China swiftly lodged a strong protest with Washington over the projected visit

The Warming of relations between Washington and Peking was expected to have Incalculable effects on the world scene, especially the Vietnam war, and on next year’s Presidential election campaign in the United States.

With the winding down of American involvement in Vietnam and the new friendship between China and the United States, President Nixon can be expected to present himself as a peacemaker when he makes his expected decision to stand for another four-year term in the White House.

Short speech

The President spoke only for about three minutes last night, but what he had to say had enormous impact He began by saying he had repeatedly pointed out that there could be no stable and enduring peace without the participation of the People’s Republic of China and its 750 million people. That was why, he said, he had undertaken several initiatives to bring about more normal relationships between Washington and Peking, such as ending the 21-year-old embargo on American trade with China earlier this year, and agreeing to broaden human contacts. “In pursuance of that goal, I sent Dr Kissinger, my assistant for national security affairs, to Peking during his recent world trip for the purposes of having talks with Premier Chou Enlai,” the President said. Joint statement President Nixon then read a joint statement issued simultaneously in ’ Peking that he would visit China, at “an appropriate date” before May, 1872. The President gave an assurance that his action in seeking a new relationship with China would not be at the expense of the friends of the United States. ' He said it was not’directed at any other nation, and the United States sought friendly relations with all other countries. The President’s words appeared to be directed chiefly at the Soviet Union, which is involved in ideological and border disputes with China and is believed

to be apprehensive about efforts by Washington and Peking to improve relation*. They were also designed to reassure the Government of Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek that President Nixon’s visit to Peking did not mean that the United States would abandon its defence commitments to the Nationalist Chinese Government on Taiwan. <