Chapter 2 The "Navigators of Sino-US Relations - Deng Xiaoping and Carter (2)

Carter said: "We have 14 leaders who have visited China. You are the first Chinese leader to visit the United States. In this regard, the United States has an advantage, 14 to 1." This was the first meeting between Carter and Deng Xiaoping.After reviewing the guard of honor, President Carter said in his speech: "This year began a meaningful normalization of our relationship between our two countries, and today we are one step closer ... We hope that this normalization will help us move together towards a peaceful world of diversity. "Mr. Vice Premier, yesterday was the Lunar New Year's Day, the beginning of your new year, a traditional day for the Chinese people to start a new journey. I heard that on this New Year's day, you opened all doors and windows to the gods of charity .It is a time to forget family quarrels and a time to reunite and reconcile. Today is a time for our two countries to reunite and start a new journey, a time for long-closed windows to reopen."

Then Deng Xiaoping delivered a speech.This is the first time a Chinese leader has addressed the White House.Deng Xiaoping said: "The significance of the normalization of Sino-US relations goes far beyond the scope of the relationship between the two countries. The development of friendly and cooperative relations between two important countries on both sides of the Pacific Ocean is undoubtedly an important factor for promoting peace in the Pacific region and the world... "The most urgent task for the people of the world is to redouble our efforts to maintain world peace, security and stability. Our two countries have an inescapable responsibility to make due contributions to this through joint efforts...

"Sino-US relations are at a new starting point, and the world situation is also undergoing a new turning point. China and the United States are great countries, and the people of China and the United States are great people. The friendly cooperation between the two peoples will surely It will have a positive and far-reaching impact on the development of the world situation." After the welcoming ceremony, Carter and Deng Xiaoping walked into the White House side by side.They stood on the balcony of the White House and waved to people, and photographers snapped up this classic historical shot.

On the way, Carter and Deng Xiaoping talked and laughed happily. Carter said: "In April 1949, as a young submarine officer, I stayed in Qingdao." "Is it Qingdao?" Deng Xiaoping said with a smile, "At that time our troops had surrounded that city." Brzezinski, the presidential security assistant who was behind him, joked: "Then you have known each other for a long time." Everyone laughed. Walking into the cabinet meeting room, the two sides entered into substantive negotiations.Representatives from both sides sat down at a long table in the Cabinet Room.On the American side: Carter, Mundell, Vance, Brzezinski, Woodcock, Richard Holbrook and Michelle Oxenberg.Chinese participants included: Deng Xiaoping, Fang Yi, Huang Hua, Chai Zemin, Zhang Wenjin, Pu Shouchang, Peng Di, Wei Yongqing, Zhu Qizhen, Deputy Director-General of the Department of American and Oceanian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ji Chaozhu, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Treaty and Law.

Negotiations between the host and guest began with humor. Carter said: "We have 14 leaders who have visited China. You are the first Chinese leader to visit the United States. In this regard, the United States has an advantage, 14 to 1." Deng Xiaoping said: "China, which has a tradition of hospitality, welcomes you to take advantage of it. I will now invite Your Excellency, Vice President Mondale, Secretary of State Vance, Security Affairs Assistant Brzezinski and other American friends to visit China." Carter said humorously: "If all these people accept your invitation, no one here will work. As president, I will first accept the invitation and let others wait and go later."

Deng Xiaoping said to reporters in a humorous tone: "We talk about everything, from astronomy to geography." At the beginning of the talks, Deng Xiaoping, who likes to smoke, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and asked politely and humorously: "Is smoking allowed in the White House? Has the US Congress passed a law prohibiting smoking during the talks? " Carter was sorting out the speech outline for the meeting. When Deng Xiaoping said this, he laughed and said, "No. As long as I am president, they will not pass such a law. Do you know? My Georgia planted a lot of tobacco."

Hearing this answer, Deng Xiaoping also smiled happily, lit a "Panda" brand cigarette, smoked it leisurely, and then said to Carter: "You are ready, you talk first." According to the prepared outline, Carter carefully began to express his views on world affairs, the stability of Asia and the world, the rapid growth of Soviet military power and the role of the United States in world affairs.Later, Carter recalled: "Deng was a small man, sitting on a large chair in the cabinet room, and he was almost invisible. He was listening to me. He smoked one after another, wise and bright. His eyes often turned around. When the interpreter translated my words to him, he sometimes laughed heartily, and sometimes nodded to other Chinese personnel."

After Carter finished speaking, he asked Deng Xiaoping to talk about his views. Deng Xiaoping said, our view is that the world is very restless, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai pointed out long ago that there is a danger of war.He said that the People's Republic of China does not want to fight wars, and that the Chinese need a long period of peace to fully modernize.It is very likely that either the Soviet Union or the United States started the war.Chinese leaders have always believed that nine times out of ten the two dominant powers, the Soviet Union and the United States, would expand their influence.Over the past few years, the Chinese have begun to realize that for them, the danger from the United States has become less and less dangerous, and the Soviet Union is even more worrying.It is necessary for the countries of the third world and the second world to unite against hegemony, and this united front against hegemony frankly includes the United States.There are many commonalities between China and the United States. The United States is of course an important force in dealing with the Soviet Union's dominance of the world. However, the United States has certain shortcomings from the perspective of its own responsibility when dealing with these issues.

But during the talks, the two agreed that if China and the United States jointly act against the Soviet Union, it would be a serious mistake and would only further isolate the Soviets. The first meeting lasted 1 hour and 20 minutes.After the meeting, accompanied by Secretary of State Vance, Deng Xiaoping came to the diplomatic reception hall of the White House after finishing his working lunch.At this time, the reporters who had been waiting for a long time swarmed up and asked Deng Xiaoping what they had discussed with Carter.Deng Xiaoping didn't say "no comment" like some leaders refuse reporters, but said to reporters in his characteristic humorous tone:

"We talked about everything from astronomy to geography." The reporters were shocked by the clear and wise answers given by the leaders of New China, and expressed their sincere admiration for Deng Xiaoping's humor and sensitivity. In the afternoon, the second meeting between Carter and Deng Xiaoping continued.The focus is on the international situation related to the Soviet Union.Finally, Deng asked Carter to let the advisers and aides go, and the two walked from the cabinet room to the president's Oval Office.Deng Xiaoping disclosed to Carter a high-level secret plan of the Chinese government and asked Carter what he thought.This plan is --- China to cross the border to give Vietnam a punitive blow.Deng Xiaoping told Carter: "China wants to let its arrogant neighbors know that they will not go unpunished if they mess up China and other countries in the region."

The afternoon talks lasted two and a half hours.