Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs John Holdridge testified before Congress that the Reagan administration had conveyed the following “six assurances” to Taiwan’s government.
Source: Testimony by Assistant Secretary of State John Holdridge, U.S. Congress, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Policy Toward China and Taiwan, 97th Cong., 2nd sess., August 17, 1982 (Washington: GPO, 1982), pp. 13-14.
1. [In negotiations with the PRC,] " ... we did not agree to set a date certain for ending arms sales to Taiwan";
2. " ... [W]e see no mediation role for the United States" [between Taiwan and the PRC];
3. " ... [N]or will we attempt to exert pressure on Taiwan to enter into negotiations with the PRC";
4. " ... [T]here has been no change in our longstanding position on the issue of sovereignty over Taiwan";
5. "We have no plans to seek" [revisions to the Taiwan Relations Act; and]
6 [The August 17 Joint Communiqué between the U.S. and the PRC] "should not be read to imply that we have agreed to engage in prior consultations with Beijing on arms sales to Taiwan."
Click here for a review of Holdridge’s Crossing the Divide: An Insider’s Account of Normalization of U.S.-China Relations.
