East Meets Reagan

By James Kelly

The trip is as rich in irony as Richard Nixon's momentous journey to China in 1972, which opened the door to diplomatic ties after 25 years of mutual loathing. If anything, Ronald Reagan's reputation as a stout foe of Communism exceeds Nixon's. The President's sympathy for Taiwan during the first two years of his term caused the American-Chinese relationship to sink to its lowest level in a decade. Yet when Reagan steps off Air Force One in Peking this week, it will not only mark the first time that he has ever set foot on Communist soil. The visit will highlight one of the Administration's rare foreign policy successes. Said White House Aide Michael Deaver: "This is Ronald Reagan's most important foreign trip."

Though the voyage promises more symbol than substance, neither side is down-playing the value of that symbolism. For Reagan, the trip underscores his commitment to the Pacific Basin and polishes his image as statesman while his Democratic presidential opponents prepare to slug it out in the Texas caucuses. For Deng Xiaoping, China's de facto leader although he holds no top government or party title, the journey will reaffirm China's determination to broaden its ties with the West. It will also allow millions of Americans following Reagan's trip on television to get an unusually close look at a nation that has undergone a major facelift 'in the nine years since Gerald Ford, the last U.S. President to visit China, landed in Peking.

Both guest and host have diligently prepared for the occasion. In the month before his departure, Reagan sat through six 90-minute briefing sessions, instead of the usual three for a foreign swing. He watched a movie filmed by a White House advance team of the sites he would visit and perused a National Geographic book entitled Journey into China along with the usual policy papers. "I don't know why I didn't know enough about China to be as aware as I am now of the great scenic beauty of the land," Reagan confessed to a group of Chinese journalists in Washington last week.

Peking's welcome began even before the President left Washington for the first leg of his 14-day, 20,000-mile journey last Thursday (he was to spend Easter weekend at his California ranch). After insisting initially that the presidential entourage, including the press, be limited to 200, Chinese officials graciously upped the number to 560. Reagan will also be allowed to fly aboard Air Force One within China and to take along his own limousine and helicopter, privileges that were not accorded Nixon or Ford.

The President is scheduled to hold seven hours of talks with Deng, Premier Zhao Ziyang and General Secretary Hu Yaobang. Reagan and Zhao will sign at least two documents, both relatively minor: a treaty that would eliminate double taxation on U.S. companies in China, and a two-year extension of a cultural exchange agreement reached in 1979. If last-minute negotiations pay off, the two leaders will endorse a deal allowing U.S. companies to build nuclear power plants in China. The discussion has been snagged over a U.S. requirement that any country receiving American nuclear technology seek U.S. consent before reprocessing spent uranium.

Also on the agenda are China's possible interest in buying arms from the U.S. and its desire to expand commercial ties. All the talks, however, will be overshadowed by what remains the thorniest issue: Taiwan. Reagan has dampened his support for the island nation considerably since he became President. The turning point came in August 1982, when the U.S. signed a communique with China pledging "to reduce gradually" its arms sales to Taiwan. By the spring of 1983, when the U.S. loosened its export rules for a technology-hungry China, Peking had begun to warm toward Reagan. Five Cabinet officers have made pilgrimages to China in the past 15 months. Yet the President's attitude toward Taiwan can still rankle.

As he said to the Chinese journalists last week, "We will not turn our backs on old friends." China is especially upset that U.S. arms sales have not dropped off more sharply; in fiscal year 1983 the U.S. authorized arms sales of $697 million to the island, vs. a 1984 total of $680 million. Reagan is expected to listen patiently to the Chinese complaints, but aides are sure he will not give any more ground.

Reagan and his hosts will find more room for agreement on other topics. Many aspects of China's foreign policy coincide with U.S. interests; Washington, for example, approves of Chinese efforts to restrain Viet Nam in Kampuchea and to build stronger ties with Japan. U.S. officials are also heartened by China's attempts to begin talking to South Korea. Says a State Department aide: "They know a new Korean war would be a major disaster for them and for us." Most important, the U.S. and China remain equally suspicious of the Soviet Union. Although Peking and Moscow resumed low-level talks last year, the Chinese remain opposed to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Soviet support for Viet Nam, and the presence of 52 Soviet divisions on China's northern border. Reagan will have three televised opportunities to get his message across to the Chinese public: an interview with Chinese journalists, a speech at Peking's Great Hall of the People, and a question-and-answer session with students at Shanghai's Fudan University. Besides the requisite stops at schools, suburban communes and the Great Wall, Reagan and Wife Nancy will take a one-day side trip to Xian, an archaeological wonder featuring the 2,000-year-old tomb of China's first Emperor. In addition to the sumptuous banquet at the Great Hall, the Reagans will be treated to a more intimate dinner with top Chinese leaders at the Diaoyutai guesthouse, a onetime imperial fishing resort more than 800 years old where the presidential couple will be staying. The Reagans will reside in a renovated villa, complete with indoor garden and an imposing replica of a Ming dynasty dragon bed with a pillared canopy. The Americans will give their own spread: 600 guests at the Great Wall Hotel for roast tom turkey, accompanied by seafood mousse and praline ice cream. About 220 lbs. of frozen poultry were flown to Peking two weeks ago, but the Reagans will personally bring the wine (390 bottles of California's finest reds, whites and champagnes).

Between the toasts, talks and sightseeing tours, Reagan and the Chinese will be able to size each other up. If relations between the two countries have not always gone smoothly since Nixon's great leap twelve years ago, it is partly because both countries fostered unrealistically high hopes of what could be achieved. Barring some impolitic comment by either side about Taiwan, the Reagan road show through China cannot help raising the temperature of the friendship another few degrees.

--By James Kelly.

Reported by Laurence I. Barrett with Reagan and Jaime FlorCruz/Peking

With reporting by Laurence I. Barrett, Reagan, Jaime FlorCruz