Taiwan Matters: The Normalization of U.S.-PRC Relations and the Taiwan Issue, 1977-1979 Marcel K. Will For Jeanette who always gives me strength when I need it most. Abstract Relations between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China during the Cold War have always been important and very complicated. At times, they were openly hostile and later tacitly amicable. The major reason for the problematic character of the rela- tionship has always been the Taiwan issue. Even when in the late 1970s the U.S. government under President Jimmy Carter tried to establish official diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic - the so called normalization -, it was not a smooth process. The different positions of Washington and Beijing about Taiwan’s status and America’s relationship to the Kuomin- tang regime there led to stalemate and frictions. It took different rounds of secret negotiations before both sides could finalize a normalization agreement in late 1978 which led to the estab- lishment of official diplomatic relations in 1979. Accordingly, this study’s major question is what President Carter’s motivation was to risk the success of an objective as important as normalization, for the sake of preserving Tai- wan’s security. The thesis advanced here is that the Carter administration’s tenacity becomes only understandable if one takes into account the American vision of itself as the dominant power in the Asia-Pacific region and the bilateral strategic set-up between the United States and China. If Taiwan was not controlled by Beijing, it could provide leverage against China. This mechanism is still working today, and it helps the United States to balance China’s growing power and influence in Asia-Pacific. Therefore, Taiwan matters! Taiwan Matters: The Normalization of U.S.-PRC Relations and the Taiwan Issue, 1977-1979 Inaugural-Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Philosophischen Fakultät der Universität zu Köln im Fach Mittlere und Neuere Geschichte vorgelegt von Marcel K. Will am 11. November 2014, erfolgreich ver- teidigt am 28. Januar 2015. [Inaugural-Dissertation In order to receive the doctoral grade by the Faculty of Arts of the University of Cologne in Medieval and Modern History; submitted by Marcel K. Will on November 11, 2014, successfully defended on Jan- uary 28, 2015] Copyright © 2016 by Marcel K. Will Taiwan Matters: The Normalization of U.S.-PRC Relations and the Taiwan Issue, 1977-1979 By Marcel K. Will (Lahnstein/Germany, 2016) Acknowledgements Writing a dissertation is not a sprint. It is not even a marathon but appears rather a suc- cession of multiple marathon races. Fortunately, in contrast to a marathon race, when writing a thesis, one is allowed to ask others for help. Without the ongoing support of many different people, I would not have been able to finish this project. The following lines serve to express my deep felt gratitude to all of those who gave me advice, critique, and encouragement whenever I needed it. When I started this dissertation in 2009, I had already met several people who had influenced my development as a student of history; teachers at school as well as class- mates and professors at the university. However, none of them taught me more about the study of history and the correct use of its methodology than my two doctoral advisors, Jessica Gienow-Hecht and Norbert Finzsch. I would have never been able to write this thesis without their personal support and academic advice. I also benefitted from countless discussions with other researchers, my col- leagues, and my fellow students at the University of Cologne and from other universities. Carolin Fisher, Annika Estner, Bill McAllister, David Nickles, Herrmann Halbeisen, Jens Jäger, Martin Albers, Tilman Pietz, Mathias Häussler, Sebastian Zamorano, Niclas Wei- mar, Nikolas Dörr, Jochen Molitor, and Matthias Kreßner were very critical readers and listeners. Their input helped me to sharpen my ideas. Thank you to all of you! Writing about U.S.-China relations and the Taiwan issue made it necessary to spend some time in Taiwan and China. Although the access to the archives in these plac- es was much more restrictive than in the United States for example, it still made sense to take a look on the records there. Since my knowledge of the Chinese language is only rudimentary, I needed a lot of help to find my way through the archives in Taiwan and China and also through the Chinese language. My good and dear friend Jürgen Schipper was of particular help when it came to conducting my research trip to the People Repub- lic of China, as he translated the material we found there. Others did the same when I was in Taiwan. The list of all the friends who helped me there is long: Liu Che-Yu, Lin Pin-Hsiu, Lie Chien-Yeh, Chia Yu Cho, Zhang Zhi-Dong and Peng Szu-Wei. I am really thankful for all your help and your kindness. I am also grateful to all the people who proofread and edited my chapters, giving me valuable input. As a non-native speaker, it was not always easy to use the right words I and the right style. In truth, academic writing in a language which is not one’s first lan- guage is much more difficult than I had ever expected. Thus, my gratitude here goes to Gabriel Kneisley, Manuel Becker, Tobias Rösner, Silvia Rodriguez-Parrinha, Dirk Lich- te, Michel Hansel, Sulman Mirza, and Adam and Kendra Goforth. I also have to thank the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation in Bonn. They did not only provide me with a full PhD grant for three years but also sponsored my research trips and some visits at international conferences. Without these trips, this project would not have been possible. In this regard, my special thanks goes to Ursula Bitzegeio and Julia Vater who were always supportive and tried the best they could to help me. As a historian, I do not have a profound knowledge of the technical devices I am using to write and print my dissertation. At one point or another, it became necessary to ask others, more knowledgeable people for help concerning technical matters. I am ex- tremely thankful that I could always count on Jens Klärner, Marco Horn, Armin Fiedler, and Marcel Buckebrede, when it mattered most. In addition, I want to express my gratitude to the administrational staff of the University of Cologne. Different member of different departments and institutes have supported and advised me about the correct way to finish this project. It is always helpful to know the right people who know their way around the bureaucracy. Most important of all, I want to thank my family. The ongoing support and the encouragement of my parents and my wife was sometimes everything that kept me go- ing. I will never be able to express my love and my gratitude for the most important peo- ple in my life. But I know that their love and their belief in me have always been in my mind and my heart, and I hope they are as proud of this book as I am. Finally, I want to make a last comment about the way I published this study. After contacting many different publishers in the United States and the United Kingdom, I real- ized that I would have to make too many changes in order to be able to publish this book with one of them. Thus, I decided to write a new book about the history of the Taiwan issue and its role in the relationship between China and the United States later. Maybe, this will be more suitable for a broader audience. In the end, I think that it is a good idea to make my work part of the internet where everyone interested in the subject can use it. I also invite my dear readers to any kind of critique and comments and welcome your in- put via email ([email protected]). II Contents Introduction 1 Chapter I: Managing the Conflict, 1945-1968 35 Chapter II: Breaking New Grounds, 1969–1976 73 Chapter III: Settling on a China Policy, January 1977-June 1977 106 Chapter IV: Proving Seriousness, July 1977-May 1978 146 Chapter V: Negotiating Normalization, June 1978-December 1978 192 Chapter VI: Promoting Normalization, December 1978-February 1979 235 Chapter VII: Preserving U.S. Involvement, January 1979-April 1979 274 Conclusion 319 Abbreviations 334 Bibliography 336 Introduction Sino-American relations have not been easy since the end of World War II, and this is still true for the relationship between Washington and Beijing today. During the Cold War, relations between the Chinese and Americans were entrenched in the rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. First, the United States of America (USA) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) were ideological and geopolitical enemies; later they decided to create something like a tacit alliance in order to put pressure on the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Nowa- days the relationship is even more complex and defined by the People’s Republic’s emergence as a great power. On the one hand, China’s rise challenges the United States’ (U.S.) position as the dominant power not only in Asia-Pacific but also on a global scale. On the other hand, the growing importance of the PRC in the realms of diplomatic, political, economic, and cultural exchange in today’s world makes the country essential for solving global problems. Thus, both sides endeavor to have a stable working relationship, instead of one that is exclusively defined by their different national interests.