Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E–13, Documents on China, 1969–1972

108. Message From the Government of the United States to the Government of the People’s Republic of China, Washington, March 3, 1972¹ ²

Washington, March 3, 1972

Delivered by Peter Rodman to Miss Shih, 3 March 1972

March 3, 1972

1. The U.S. Government proposes to disclose on March 10 the location of the public contact point with the People’s Republic of China as agreed upon during the President’s visit. Without making a formal announcement the U.S. side would talk along the following lines: The U.S. Government and the government of the People’s Republic of China have agreed that the contacts mentioned in their February 28, 1972, Joint Communique will be maintained by their Ambassadors in Paris, France.

2. The U.S. side believes it would be beneficial if the actual contacts could begin soon in order to show some concrete results to the American public.

3. The Soviet Ambassador called on Dr. Kissinger on March 1, 1972, to obtain an account of the President’s trip to the People’s Republic of China. Dr. Kissinger talked in a most general way, repeating what he said in his press conference in Shanghai about the discussions on world affairs. In reply to a question, Dr. Kissinger said that the People’s Republic of China expressed no objection to the relaxation of tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. When asked whether the People’s Republic of China felt threatened by the Soviet Union, Dr. Kissinger said that the matter did not arise. The Soviet Ambassador inquired whether the U.S. was prepared to make a joint appeal to the People’s Republic to participate in talks on nuclear disarmament. Dr. Kissinger replied in the negative.

4. The President appreciates the invitation extended to Senators Mansfield and Scott to visit the People’s Republic of China. At the same time he has found an equally intense interest on the part of the leaders of the House of Representatives—a co-equal branch of the Legislature. The President would therefore be extremely grateful if the Prime Minister would also entertain a request for Congressmen Hale Boggs, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, and Gerald Ford, Minority Leader, to visit the People’s Republic of China in the near future but subsequent to the visit of Senators Mansfield and Scott.

1. Source: National Archives, Nixon Presidential Materials, NSC Files, Box 849, President’s File-China Trip, China Exchanges, March 1, 1972-June 24, 1972. No classification marking. No drafting information appears on the message. A typed notation on the message indicates that Peter Rodman of the National Security Council staff delivered the message to Shih Yen-hua, a member of the PRC delegation to the UN.
2. The message informed PRC officials that the U.S. Government proposed to announce Paris as the “public contact point” for communication between the two nations. It also described the nature of a conversation between President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs Kissinger and Soviet Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Dobrynin, and thanked the Chinese for inviting two U.S. senators to visit China.