-Caveat Lector- Memo Underlines Importance of China By GEORGE GEDDA .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eager to strengthen relations with China, a newly acquired Cold War partner, the United States in 1974 embarked on a systematic plan to loosen security ties with Taiwan, including the withdrawal of nuclear weapons. The U.S. strategy was outlined in a recently declassified memo from Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger to President Ford not long after Ford replaced President Nixon in August 1974. The 17-page memo, stamped ``top secret,'' was obtained by the National Security Archive, a private group that publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of Information Act. Kissinger said he wanted to establish full relations with China by mid-1976, but that step was not taken until early 1979, midway through the Carter administration. Simultaneously, the administration ended diplomatic and security relations with Taiwan. But the loosening of ties with Taiwan was well under way before then. In 1974, as part of a substantial reduction in U.S. military forces on Taiwan, Kissinger said, ``We will remove all U-2 (spy) planes from Taiwan this year and we shall remove all nuclear weapons which are on Taiwan this year.'' Japan's Kyodo News Agency, which first reported on the Kissinger memo, said it was known previously that the United States had deployed nuclear-capable missiles in Taiwan in 1957, but the memo offered the first proof that nuclear weapons had actually been deployed on Taiwan. Kissinger wrote that China had been informed that the United States intended to ``disengage from our military presence and our military supply relations'' with Taiwan by early 1977, when the Ford administration ended. The memo underscored how much the United States prized its fledgling relationship with China at the time. The two countries viewed each other as useful counterweights to their common enemy, the Soviet Union. Washington and Beijing have had less success in finding common ground since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Nowadays, suspicions abound. Following the NATO bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia last week, ties between the two countries have been at a low point. In his memo, Kissinger said China was resisting American efforts at the time to arrange for some form of U.S. representation on Taiwan after U.S.-Chinese relations were established. China also balked at U.S. efforts to win a commitment from Beijing for a peaceful resolution of the question of reunification between China and Taiwan. In a gesture to China, Kissinger said the United States was keeping Beijing ``meticulously informed'' about U.S. dealings with Moscow and had pledged ``never to make any agreement with the Soviet Union that is directed at China. We will not collude with Moscow against Beijing in any form.'' At another point, Kissinger said, ``If the Soviet Union attacks China, the United States would regard this as a threat to international stability and American security.'' In a further effort to mollify China, Kissinger said the United States was seeking to end the U.N. military presence in South Korea, a Chinese adversary in the Korean War. Those efforts never bore fruit, and the U.N. command remains there 25 years later. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
