CHINA AND U.S. 'New era in relations'

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33155, 20 February 1973, Page 13

CHINA AND U.S. 'New era in relations'

( A z r a -Urutcr—copyright t l’FKl\(i. February 19. Hie American Presidential envoy. Dr Henry Kissinger, arrived in Tokyo today after four days of talks with Chinese leaders, crowned by a meeting I with Chairman Mao Tsc-tung.

Western diplomats said that there had apparently been a major advance during Dr Kissinger's visit. They believed his meeting with Chairman Mao . which lasted nearly two hours on Saturday, must herald a new era in relations between China and the United States. I The diplomats said that , there was likely to be some form of official American presence in Peking before the end of this year. But a senior Chinese official, asked at a reception last night about the possibility of a Chinese Embassy opening in Washington before long, smiled and said: "It’s too early to talk about that." Dr Kissinger came to Peking after talks with North (Vietnamese, Thai, and Lao- ! tian leaders on issues surrounding the Vietnam ceasefire. Observers noted the cordial tone during the whole of Dr Kissinger’s fifth visit to China, which has included (more than 12 hours of talks with the Prime Minister (Chou En-lai). The diplomats said that the advance in relations would I soon involve a United States (commitment to reduce troop ] strength on Taiwan, a furIther series of cultural and scientific exchanges and the release of two American pilots who flew over Chinese terri-] tory from Vietnam. Though major problems such as the situation in Cambodia and Laos remain, the diplomats believe a basis for close Chinese-American relations has developed. Diplomats pointed with interest to the text of a message on the meeting. The

text issued bx the New t iun.i News Agency, referred to the audience as "a frank and wide-ranging conversation tn an unconstrained atmosphere." The text said that Chairman Mao had asked Dr Kissinger to convex h s regards to President Nixon. "It was natural to ask Dr Kissinger during the course of the meeting to convex his regards." said oni' envoy, "but for this to be published by New China News Agency and to appear in Chinese news media is another clear indication that Sino-Ameri-can relations have reached a new stage."