China\'s Quest. The History of the Foreign Relations of the People\'s Republic of China - John Garver

624 { China’s Quest

Following the July “missile tests,” Beijing took stock of the US reaction.

The Clinton administration responded by trying to reassure Beijing on the

Taiwan issue and move beyond the Lee visa issue. The first high-level meeting

of the two sides since the visa announcement and the July missile tests came

in Brunei on August 1, when Qian Qichen and Warren Christopher met.

During the meeting, Christopher gave Qian a letter from Clinton to Jiang

Zemin. Clinton’s letter restated long-standing US policy, but more directly

and at the highest level.^20 As published by a pro-CCP Hong Kong newspaper,

the letter said:

The United States recognizes the PRC as the sole legitimate govern-

ment of China. The United States respects China’s position that there

is only one China in the world and that Taiwan is a part of China. The

Taipei

Keelung

Kaohsiung

Fuzhou

Xiamen

Quanzhou

Shantou

PEOPLE’S

REPUBLIC

OF CHINA

TAIWAN

Haitan

Island

Jinmen Island

(Taiwan-held)

Yonaguni

Island

(Japan)

Iriomote

Island

(Japan)

Pescadores

Islands

(Taiwan-held)

Mazu Island

(Taiwan-held)

Dongshan

Island

Nan’ao

Island

August 1995

missile test zone

8–13 March 199 6

rst-wave missile

exercise closure area

12–20 March 199 6

second-wave live

re exercise area

18–25 March 199 6

third-wave triphibious

exercise area

July1995

missile test zone

F IGU R E 23-1 PLA Military Exercises in Taiwan Straits, 1995–1996

Source: John W. Garver, Face Off: China, the United States, and Taiwan’s Democratization (University of Washington

Press: Seattle, 1997), p. 75.