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The Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations of January 1, 1979, established official relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China (commonly called "China").

Its announcement coincided with the ending of U.S. official recognition of the Republic of China (now commonly known as "Taiwan"), which was announced by President Jimmy Carter in December 1978. Carter also announced the withdrawal of all U.S. military personnel from Taiwan and the end of the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty signed with the ROC. However, the Taiwan Relations Act passed by the unequivocal support of US Congress (and signed by the Carter Administration)^[1] shortly thereafter continued to provide the legal framework as a US domestic law to maintain commercial, cultural, and other relations without official Government representation and without diplomatic relations of the unofficial relations in the form of the American Institute in Taiwan.

Beyond formal recognition, the communiqué reaffirms the principles agreed upon in the Shanghai Communiqué, released almost seven years earlier.

Key Summary Points

The American Institute of Taiwan had outlined 9 core summary points in the 1979 agreement between the United States and China.^[2]

1. The US recognized that the Government of the People's Republic of China as "the sole legal Government of China", and it acknowledged the Chinese position that "there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China". Additionally the US would continue to maintain cultural, commercial and unofficial relations with Taiwan, and that the relationship between China and US were normalized.^[2]

2. That the "question of United States arms sales to Taiwan" was not settled during negotiations between the two countries.^[2]

3. That both sides will have "respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity" and to not interfere in each other's "internal affairs".^[2]

4. The Chinese Government emphasizes that "the question of Taiwan is China’s internal affair".^[2]

5. The US Government states that it "attaches great importance to its relation with China", and reaffirmed that it has "no intention of infringing on Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity", or on interfering in the internal affairs of China, nor will it be pursuing a policy of “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan.”^[2]

6. In taking in awareness of each other's statement on the issue of arming Taiwan, the United States Government states that it doesn't "seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan", and instead "intends gradually to reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan" over a period of time "leading to a final solution".^[2]

7. To achieve bringing about a "final settlement" on "the question of United States arms sales to Taiwan", both countries will strive to make "every effort" to engage in measures and generate conditions that are "conducive to the thorough settlement" of the issue.^[2]

8. That the development of United States – China relations would not only be in the interests of both countries but also "conducive to peace and stability in the world".^[2]

9. In order to achieve a healthy progression of United States-China relations and maintain global peace, the two governments "reaffirm the principles" that was agreed on by both sides in the "Shanghai Communique and the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations", and that the two sides will stay in contact and engage in "appropriate consultations on bilateral and international issues of common interest".^[2]

Differences in wording regarding recognition of Taiwan

The United States of America recognizes the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. ... The Government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.
— s:Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations

美利坚合众国承认中华人民共和国政府是中国的唯一合法政府。…… 美利坚合众国政府承认中国的立场，即只有一个中国，台湾是中国的一部分。
— zh:s:中华人民共和国和美利坚合众国关于建立外交关系的联合公报

In the Joint Communiqué, For the view "there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China (只有一个中国，台湾是中国的一部分)", the attitude verb in the English text of the United States is "acknowledges", and the attitude verb in the Chinese text of the China is "承认". Compared with the wording of the previous point, there are obvious differences.

According to the source, during the final proofreading stage on the eve of the communiqué, Zhang Wenjin, then Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, discovered the differences in the US government's wording between views of Taiwan and views of the recognition of the Chinese government, so he resolutely the Chinese word of views on Taiwan is set to "承认" to make it equivalent to the English word "recognizes", in line with the interests of the Chinese government;^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] U.S. diplomat Harvey Julien Feldman pointed out in an interview in 1999 that James Stapleton Roy, the deputy director of the U.S. Liaison Office in Beijing who participated in the negotiations at the time, was also aware of this translation change, but Feldman believed that Roy was trying to normalize Sino-U.S. relations as soon as possible, so remained silent about it.^[7] Therefore, even in this situation, both parties jointly signed this Joint Communiqué.^[8]^[3]

Since then, successive U.S. governments have insisted that they only just know (which means they did not agree yet) that "there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China",^[9]^[10]^[11] they have also stated this attitude on many occasions,^[12]^[13]^[14] and they believe that only the English text is binding on the U.S. government. On the other hand, the Chinese government insists that the Chinese text is also binding on the U.S. government, and therefore requires the U.S. government to accept and agree with the view that "there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China".^[15]

References

^ "Jimmy Carter: Taiwan Relations Act Statement on Signing H.R. 2479 Into Law". Presidency.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j AIT (2022-03-30). "U.S.-PRC Joint Communique (1982)". American Institute in Taiwan. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
^ ^a ^b 韩雪. "【中国共产党百年瞬间】中美公布关于建立外交关系的联合公报". 央广网. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
^ 外交部翻译室专家施燕华大使：浅谈中美建交公报的翻译 Archived 2020-08-01 at the Wayback Machine，滚动新闻，新浪网，2003-11-09，“所以中美建交文件实际上是由三个文件所组成：《公报》和两国政府的声明…也更符合我们的立场，所以章部长最后亲自敲定译为‘承认’。”
^ 吴建民传 Archived 2020-08-01 at the Wayback Machine，王凡，世界知识出版社，2008，“但在建交公报中用‘承认’更符合中国的立场，于是章文晋最后亲自敲定译为‘承认’”。
^ 中國翻譯 Archived 2020-08-01 at the Wayback Machine，第25卷，第1-6期，2004，“章部长最后亲自敲定译为‘承认’。”
^ Interview with Harvey Feldman (PDF). The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training. Foreign Affairs Oral History Project. 2001. pp. 69–70. Archived from the original on 2019-04-24. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
^ 黄安年 (2002). "究竟是"承认"还是"认识到"?——就中美上海公报中的一个史实问题答罗志田先生". 学术界 (5): 105–114. Archived from the original on 2020-09-03. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
^ Strategic Review. UNITED STATES STRATEGIC INSTITUTE. 1980. p. 55. Archived from the original on 2020-09-03. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
^ What Is the U.S. “One China” Policy, and Why Does it Matter? Archived 2019-08-02 at the Wayback Machine, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2017-01-13, "The United States did not, however, give in to Chinese demands that it recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan......Instead, Washington acknowledged the Chinese position that Taiwan was part of China. For geopolitical reasons, both the United States and the PRC were willing to go forward with diplomatic recognition despite their differences on this matter. When China attempted to change the Chinese text from the original acknowledge to recognize, Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher told a Senate hearing questioner, “[W]e regard the English text as being the binding text. We regard the word ‘acknowledge’ as being the word that is determinative for the U.S.” In the August 17, 1982, U.S.-China Communique, the United States went one step further, stating that it had no intention of pursuing a policy of “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan.”To this day, the U.S. “one China” position stands: the United States recognizes the PRC as the sole legal government of China but only acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China."
^ Shirley A. Kan; Wayne M. Morrison (2013-01-04). "U.S.-Taiwan Relationship: Overview of Policy Issues" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-12-11. Retrieved 2020-08-02. The position of the United States, as clarified in the China/Taiwan: Evolution of the "One China" Policy report of the Congressional Research Service (date: July 9, 2007) is summed up in five points: # The United States did not explicitly state the sovereign status of Taiwan in the three US-PRC Joint Communiques of 1972, 1979, and 1982. # The United States "acknowledged" the "One China" position of both sides of the Taiwan Strait. # U.S. policy has not recognized the PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan; # U.S. policy has not recognized Taiwan as a sovereign country; and # U.S. policy has considered Taiwan's status as undetermined. U.S. policy has considered Taiwan's status as unsettled. These positions remained unchanged in a 2013 report of the Congressional Research Service.
^ John J. Tkacik (2016-12-05). "Donald Trump Has Disrupted Years of Broken Taiwan Policy". The National Interest. Center for the National Interest. Archived from the original on 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
^ Taiwan Communique and Separation of Powers: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Separation of Powers of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session, on Taiwan Communique and Separation of Powers Archived 2020-08-01 at the Wayback Machine，第31頁，United States Congress. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Separation of Powers，1983，"The position of the United States is eminently clear. The official position has been that the United States "recognizes the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China. " It has also "acknowledged the Chinese position that Taiwan is a part of China, but the United States has not itself agreed to this position."
^ Shirley A. Kan; Wayne M. Morrison (2013-01-04). "U.S.-Taiwan Relationship: Overview of Policy Issues" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2016-12-11. Retrieved 2020-08-02. The position of the United States, as clarified in the China/Taiwan: Evolution of the "One China" Policy report of the Congressional Research Service (date: July 9, 2007) is summed up in five points: # The United States did not explicitly state the sovereign status of Taiwan in the three US-PRC Joint Communiques of 1972, 1979, and 1982. # The United States "acknowledged" the "One China" position of both sides of the Taiwan Strait. # U.S. policy has not recognized the PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan; # U.S. policy has not recognized Taiwan as a sovereign country; and # U.S. policy has considered Taiwan's status as undetermined. U.S. policy has considered Taiwan's status as unsettled. These positions remained unchanged in a 2013 report of the Congressional Research Service.
^ "外交部声明：对美方涉台举动表示强烈愤慨并予以谴责". 新华社. Archived from the original on 2020-09-03. Retrieved 2020-08-02.