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Also on the agenda are China's possible interest in buying arms from the U.S. and its desire to expand commercial ties. All the talks, however, will be overshadowed by what remains the thorniest issue: Taiwan. Reagan has dampened his support for the island nation considerably since he became President. The turning point came in August 1982, when the U.S. signed a communiqué with China pledging "to reduce gradually" its arms sales to Taiwan. By the spring of 1983, when the U.S. loosened its export rules for a technology-hungry China, Peking had begun to warm toward Reagan. Five Cabinet officers have made pilgrimages to China in the past 15 months. Yet the President's attitude toward Taiwan can still rankle.
As he said to the Chinese journalists last week, "We will not turn our backs on old friends." China is especially upset that U.S. arms sales have not dropped off more sharply; in fiscal year 1983 the U.S. authorized arms sales of $697 million to the island, vs. a 1984 total of $680 million. Reagan is expected to listen patiently to the Chinese complaints, but aides are sure he will not give any more ground.
Reagan and his hosts will find more room for agreement on other topics. Many aspects of China's foreign policy coincide with U.S. interests; Washington, for example, approves of Chinese efforts to restrain Viet Nam in Kampuchea and to build stronger ties with Japan. U.S. officials are also heartened by China's attempts to begin talking to South Korea. Says a State Department aide: "They know a new Korean war would be a major disaster for them and for us." Most important, the U.S. and China remain equally suspicious of the Soviet Union. Although Peking and Moscow resumed low-level talks last year, the Chinese remain opposed to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Soviet support for Viet Nam, and the presence of 52 Soviet divisions on China's northern border. Reagan will have three televised opportunities to get his message across to the Chinese public: an interview with Chinese journalists, a speech at Peking's Great Hall of the People, and a question-and-answer session with students at Shanghai's Fudan University. Besides the requisite stops at schools, suburban communes and the Great Wall, Reagan and Wife Nancy will take a one-day side trip to Xian, an archaeological wonder featuring the 2,000-year-old tomb of China's first Emperor. In addition to the sumptuous banquet at the Great Hall, the Reagans will be treated to a more intimate dinner with top Chinese leaders at the Diaoyutai guesthouse, a onetime imperial fishing resort more than 800 years old where the presidential couple will be staying. The Reagans will reside in a renovated villa, complete with indoor garden and an imposing replica of a Ming dynasty dragon bed with a pillared canopy. The Americans will give their own spread: 600 guests at the Great Wall Hotel for roast tom turkey, accompanied by seafood mousse and praline ice cream. About 220 lbs. of frozen poultry were flown to Peking two weeks ago, but the Reagans will personally bring the wine (390 bottles of California's finest reds, whites and champagnes).