Page:Kissinger's Trip (1) - November 25-29, 1974(Gerald Ford Library)(1553934).pdf/14

MEMORANDUM THE WHITE HOUSE

Secretary Kissinger asked that I pass the following report to you:

"During my first evening in Peking, the Chinese set a forthcoming mood in preparation for beginning of substantive talks tomorrow. The new Foreign Minister Chiao Kuan-hua met me at the airport and accompanied me on the now familiar half hour trip to the Guest House complex. Chiao has been their de facto Foreign Minister for several years, a close colleague of Chou En-Lai, the head of their United Nations General Assembly Delegation and key collaborator in the Shanghai Communique. It was a crisply cool evening and the streets as usual were quiet and filled with bicycles. We are staying in the Villa that President Nixon used in 1972, whereas we usually stay in another one nearby. Chiao informed me that Prime Minister Chou wished to see me, my wife and children right away at the hospital. So after ten minutes of tea and greetings at the Guest House, we went to see Chou.

"Chou greeted the four of us vigorously. He did not look any worse physically than last year and was as sharp and charming as ever. We met for half an hour in a reception room at the hospital. Chiao and Teng Hsiao-P'ing (Vice Premier) were also present. The talk was generally non-substantive except for a few jabs at the Russians by Chou.

"We then went to the massive Great Hall of the People for the welcoming banquet given by the Foreign Minister. This huge building, where most meetings, banquets and cultural events are held, was built in ten months in the late 1950's. The official party was greeted by Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-P'ing for fifteen minutes before a formal picture taking session. Teng, who along with Chiao will be my primary interlocutor, is a stocky, tough-looking individual who seems to have gained more self-assurance since my only other meeting with him in New York last April. He has been de facto Prime Minister since Chou became sick and is touted to be his replacement when key government positions are filled in the forthcoming National People's Congress. He was the second highest official denounced and humiliated in the Cultural Revolution in the mid-sixties and has made a remarkable comeback. He wasted no time, during what could easily have been a small talk situation, affirming that our bilateral relations were on course despite public speculation to the contrary. He also immediately sounded anti-Soviet notes and criticized their hegemonial designs.