Reception by U.S.-China Friendship Organizations and overseas Chinese

Vice Premier Deng at the tea party given by the U.S. House International Relations Committee (XINHUA)

Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping and his wife on the evening of January 30 attended a reception given by the U.S.-China Peoples Friendship Association and the National Association of Chinese Americans and overseas Chinese in the United States.

Thanks to American Friends and Overseas Chinese for Having Worked Many Years for the Normalization of Sino-U.S. Relations. Vice Premier Deng said at the reception: "I have had amicable, constructive and fruitful talks with President Carter. From now on, our two peoples will not be estranged from each other, and can greatly increase our friendly exchanges and actively carry on interchange and cooperation in various fields."

Vice Premier Deng stated that the Chinese people welcome American friends and Chinese compatriots to visit China, to tour the country, to look up relatives and friends there, to offer valuable comments and suggestions, and to give useful assistance to the Chinese people in their drive for modernization.

"Many of you," Vice Premier Deng said, "may have relatives living on the mainland of China and wish that they may come over for family reunions, and others may wish to go back to China to visit their relatives. This is quite natural and understandable. The Chinese Government will treat these legitimate wishes favourably and with sympathy and will adopt effective measures to satisfy these wishes. You may rest assured on this score."

On the question of Taiwan, Vice Premier Deng said that "after the normalization of relations between China and the United States, the chances of bringing Taiwan back to the embrace of the motherland and reunifying the country in a peaceful way have increased. In dealing with this question the Chinese Government will certainly take into account the actual situation in Taiwan, attach importance to the views of the people there, and adopt a reasonable policy. The reunification of the motherland is the common wish of the entire Chinese people, the Taiwan compatriots included. We feel concern for the Taiwan compatriots and have our hopes on them. We also place hope on the Taiwan authorities. We hope that they will keep national interests in mind and take a realistic attitude. This will make possible the smooth return of Taiwan to the embrace of the motherland."