Office of the Historian

160. Memorandum From the President’s Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs (Haig) to the Executive Secretary of the Department of State (Eliot) and the Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Pursley)1

Washington, October 21, 1971.

SUBJECT

  • Transfer of Major Items of U.S. Military Equipment to the Republic of China

In the future, White House approval should be obtained for any transfers of major items of U.S. military equipment to the Republic of China (such as F–5Es or M–48 tanks), whether through grant MAP, FMS credit or cash sales, commercial sales, as Excess Defense Articles, or through any other means. A memorandum giving a full description of the proposal should be submitted to the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs in each case.

Alexander M. Haig Jr.
Brigadier General, U.S. Army
  1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 522, Country Files, Far East, China, Vol. IX. Confidential. In an October 19 covering memorandum to Haig, Froebe wrote, “This we believe is necessary in order to judge the advisability and timing of the transfer [of weapons] in terms of its probable impact on the plans for the President’s China trip and our efforts to improve relations with Peking.”↩