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Visit by Deng Xiaoping to the United States

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The visit of Deng Xiaoping to the United States (Chinese: 1979年邓小平访美) was the first official visit by a paramount leader of China to the US, occurring under Jimmy Carter's administration. Deng undertook the visit in his official capacities as Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, First Vice Premier of the State Council and Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.[1] The visit initiated a series of high-level exchanges that would continue until the spring of 1989. It was the most important Chinese diplomatic visit to the country since Soong Mei-ling, wife of the Republic of China's leader Chiang Kai-shek, in 1943. Announced on 15 December 1978, the visit began in late January 1979 and went on into February.

Deng and President Jimmy Carter inspected the joint-service honor guard during an arrival ceremony for Deng at the White House.

Meetings and ceremonies

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Visit to Washington D.C. (29–31 January)

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Welcoming ceremony and bilateral meetings

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Deng arrived in the capital Washington, D.C., on 29 January with his wife Zhuo Lin. He was welcomed to the White House with full military honors from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), Ceremonial Company A at Marine Barracks Washington, the United States Navy Ceremonial Guard, the United States Air Force Honor Guard, the United States Coast Guard Ceremonial Honor Guard as well as the United States Army Band. A 19-gun salute was also fired in honor of Deng.[2]

During a bilateral meeting with Carter, he criticized Soviet relations with Vietnam, saying the following to him and Secretary Cyrus Vance:[3]

Vietnam is playing the role of Cuba. Of course, the Soviet Union will make use of Vietnam to harass China. Vietnam is also an important factor in the Soviet "Asian collective security system."

Deng sought an endorsement from the United States in order to deter the Soviet Union from intervening when China launched a contemplated punitive attack against Vietnam.[4] He informed Carter that China could not accept Vietnam's "wild ambitions" and was prepared to teach it a lesson.[4] Deng stated that the action would be limited in scope, and Chinese troops would quickly withdraw.[5]: 137  According to United States National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter reserved judgment, an action which Chinese diplomats interpreted as tacit approval for China's invasion of Vietnam during the Sino-Vietnamese war, which China launched shortly after Deng's return from the United States visit.[4] According to academic Suisheng Zhao, "The proximity in the timing of the military thrust to take advantage of the normalization to bluff the Soviets with a nonexistent US endorsement."[6]

Deng also told Brzezinski that China was not afraid of a war with the Soviet Union because China had nuclear weapons.[7]: 229 

When Carter attempted to raise the issue of human rights in China during their discussions, particularly in the context of China's One-child policy,[8]: 178  Deng quipped that he could provide as many as two hundred million Chinese, if necessary, to the United States for the protection of human rights.[9]

On 31 January, Carter and Deng signed agreements on cultural relations, science collaboration, and technology collaboration between their two countries.[10]: 318–319  Other American officials and Chinese officials signed agreements addressing high-energy physics cooperation, consular services, and education cooperation.[10]: 319 

State dinner

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Nixon speaking with Deng Xiaoping and Jimmy Carter at the White House.

The evening of 29 January, a state dinner was held in honor of Deng and his delegation at the White House.[11] Among the guests was former President Richard Nixon, his first return to the White House since his resignation speech in August 1974. President Carter at first refused to invite Nixon, but Deng said that if the former president was not invited, he would visit him at his California residence. During the dinner, Nixon had a private meeting with Deng and Carter.[12] A string section from the United States Air Force Band began to perform as dessert was being served. Following the dinner, Deng and Carter went to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts[13] to witness performances by groups such as the Joffrey Ballet as well as singers such as John Denver and Shirley MacLaine.[14]

Joint Communique

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Jimmy Carter and Deng at the Signing Ceremony.

The Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations was signed during the visit. It followed the announcement of the ending of official U.S. recognition of the Republic of China (commonly known as "Taiwan"), in December 1978 as well as the complete withdrawal of all U.S. military personnel from and the termination of its mutual defense treaty with Taiwan.

Visit to Georgia (1–2 February)

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Deng and Zhuo Lin arriving at Dobbins Air Force Base, Georgia

On 1 February, he arrived in Atlanta, the capital of the state of Georgia, Carter's home state. In Atlanta he visited the headquarters of Coca-Cola and later toured the Atlanta Assembly owned by the Ford Motor Company in Hapeville.[15] A banquet was held in honor of Deng the evening of 2 February.[16] The Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Chinese-Americans was inaugurated the following year as a result of his visit.[17]

During the Atlanta portion of the trip, Deng and Coca-Cola signed a deal to allow the company entry into the Chinese market.[5]: 137 

Deng laid a wreath at the grave of Martin Luther King, Jr.[10]: 319 

Visit to Texas (2–3 February)

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Deng Xiaoping (left) and his wife Zhuo Lin (right) are briefed by Johnson Space Center director Christopher C. Kraft (extreme right)

Deng arrived in at Houston Intercontinental Airport on the Morning of February 2.[5]: 137  He arrived on Air Force One with local congressman Mickey Leland and was greeted by Mayor of Houston Jim McConn. At the arrival ceremony, McConn presented Deng with a box of silver spurs. The U.S. Senators from Texas, John Tower and Lloyd Bentsen, refused to be seen with Deng.[5]: 137  Texas Governor Bill Clements was at the airport, declined to personally greet Deng, and immediately returned to the state capital.[5]: 137  Clements stated, "[W]e will turn out in a normal show of Texas hospitality. Whether we agree with him politically, philosophically, or whether we like chop suey or not, is beside the point."[5]: 127 

Deng visited the Hughes Tool Company, a leading manufacturer of oil drilling equipment.[5]: 138  That afternoon, he toured Johnson Space Center and was photographed sitting in a replica of the Apollo 11 lunar rover.[5]: 138 

That evening, he was presented a Stetson cowboy hat during a rodeo he attended in Simonton hosted by what is now the Greater Houston Partnership.[18][19] The hat was given to him by a teenage barrel rider.[5]: 138  When the barrel rider's sister fell from her horse later during the rodeo, Deng sent his personal physician to check on her and confirm that she was not injured.[5]: 138  The Stetson hat is displayed in the National Museum of China in the center of the exhibit hall which focuses on Deng.[5]: 138 

The Texas portion of Deng's trip was sponsored by the Houston Chamber of Commerce.[5]: 138 

Visit to the State of Washington (3–5 February)

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He arrived in the evening on 3 February at Boeing Field in Seattle before being transported to the Washington Plaza Hotel. He was accompanied by United States Secretary of Energy James R. Schlesinger, Governor Dixy Lee Ray and Senators Warren Magnuson and Henry M. Jackson. He also visited former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and toured the Boeing Everett Factory.[20]

China had lost access to Soviet-manufactured aircraft almost twenty years earlier as a result of the Sino-Soviet split.[5]: 138  China sought to upgrade its aircraft.[5] While in Seattle, Deng signed a deal to purchase several Boeing 747s.[5]: 138 

Reactions and aftermath

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Carter stated that he found Deng, "small, tough, intelligent, frank, courageous, personable, self-assured, [and] friendly."[21] Carter later described the visit as one of the most delightful experiences of his presidency.[5]: 136 

The photograph of Deng donning the hat given to him at the rodeo in Simonton became a positive image for many Americans.[5]: 138  Most of the American public's reaction toward the visit was hostile, with anti-Communists and nationalists staging protests.[22] Four days prior to his visit, a group of anti-Deng protesters broke the entrance glass to what is now the Embassy of China in Washington, D.C. During the welcoming ceremony at the White House, two protesters were taken away from the press area after chanting anti-Chinese slogans. In Houston, there was an assassination attempt by a Ku Klux Klan member against Deng. The KKK member, who rushed to the podium where Deng was speaking with a knife, was intercepted by an agent of the United States Secret Service.[23][24] American Maoist Bob Avakian, along with his group Revolutionary Communist Party, USA, protested Deng at the White House and denounced him as a "capitalist roader", and 17 party members, including Avakian, were later charged with multiple felonies including assaulting a police officer. Avakian and many RCP members fled abroad, and the charges were eventually dropped in 1982.[25]

Shortly after Deng's visit, Texas Lieutenant Governor William P. Hobby Jr. traveled to China and signed a deal through which China began selling crude oil to Houston-area refineries.[5]: 138 

On 1 March 1979, formal embassies were established in the capitals of the two countries. The consulate in Houston was the first PRC consulate opened in the United States.[8]: 238  Vice President Walter Mondale reciprocated Deng's visit with a trip to mainland China in August 1979. Two weeks later, the SS Letitia Lykes entered Shanghai harbor in the first US-flagged ship to visit the PRC in 30 years.[26] This visit led to agreements in September 1980 on maritime affairs, civil aviation links, and textile matters, as well as a bilateral consular convention.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Deng's visit: New era of friendship". Archived from the original on 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  2. ^ "America puts the flag out for Deng | China | the Guardian". Archived from the original on 2019-11-09. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  3. ^ "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XIII, China - Office of the Historian". Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  4. ^ a b c Zhao, Suisheng (2023). The Dragon Roars Back Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-5036-3415-2. OCLC 1346366969.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Crean, Jeffrey (2024). The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History. New Approaches to International History series. London, UK: Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-350-23394-2.
  6. ^ Zhao, Suisheng (2023). The Dragon Roars Back Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-5036-3415-2. OCLC 1346366969.
  7. ^ Meyskens, Covell F. (2020). Mao's Third Front: The Militarization of Cold War China. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108784788. ISBN 978-1-108-78478-8. OCLC 1145096137. S2CID 218936313.
  8. ^ a b Li, David Daokui (2024). China's World View: Demystifying China to Prevent Global Conflict. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393292398.
  9. ^ Zhao, Suisheng (2023). The dragon roars back : transformational leaders and dynamics of Chinese foreign policy. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 61–62. ISBN 978-1-5036-3415-2. OCLC 1332788951.
  10. ^ a b c Li, Hongshan (2024). Fighting on the Cultural Front: U.S.-China Relations in the Cold War. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231207058. JSTOR 10.7312/li--20704.
  11. ^ "Photos from State Dinners Past - the Atlantic". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2019-09-27. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  12. ^ Stephen E. Ambrose, Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973-1990 (United Kingdom: Simon & Schuster, 2014):524-525
  13. ^ "January 29, 1979 Performance of American Arts for Deng Xiaoping". 28 January 2019. Archived from the original on 19 September 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  14. ^ "History of China State Visits to the White House". Archived from the original on 2019-08-13. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  15. ^ "Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping touring the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant, Hapeville, Georgia, February 1, 1979. - Digital Library of Georgia". Archived from the original on August 28, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  16. ^ "Banquet for Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping during his visit to Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, February 2, 1979". Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  17. ^ "The National Association of Chinese-Americans | NACA | Atlanta". Archived from the original on 2019-12-21. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  18. ^ "Teng Speaks of Plans for Imports in Billions". The New York Times. 4 February 1979. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  19. ^ "Foster: Houston plays key role in U.S. - China relations". 6 March 2014. Archived from the original on 28 August 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  20. ^ "Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping (Or Teng Hsiao-ping) arrives in Seattle for a two-day visit on February 3, 1979". Archived from the original on December 18, 2019. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  21. ^ Zhao, Suisheng (2023). The dragon roars back : transformational leaders and dynamics of Chinese foreign policy. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-5036-3415-2. OCLC 1332788951.
  22. ^ "This Day in History: Deng Xiaoping's Historic Visit to the US". Archived from the original on 2019-10-25. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  23. ^ "Deng's US visit[2]- Chinadaily.com.cn". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2022-01-28. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
  24. ^ Hornby, Lucy (17 May 2015). "Deng Xiaoping and the KKK plot exposed . . . 30-plus years later". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  25. ^ Oppenheimer, Mark (January 27, 2008). "Free Bob Avakian!". Boston Globe.
  26. ^ "Deng visit opened door for maritime trade" (in Chinese). Chinadaily.com.cn. Archived from the original on 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
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