Canberra, 20 July 1971
Secret
Without Submission—President Nixon—Visit to China
The Prime Minister informed the Cabinet of the background so far as was then known to the announcement by the United States President on 16 July that he proposed to visit Peking before May of next year.
2. It was noted that the Australian Government had received from the United States no prior notification of the announcement except by message to the Australian Ambassador in Washington shortly before it was made—this notwithstanding that the Prime Minister had been in correspondence with the President concerning the China policies of the two Governments particularly as they relate to Chinese representation in the United Nations,1 and had received a letter from the President as recently as 14 July.2 It was noted that most other Governments, who are allies of the United States had not been brought into consultation and, except on a minimum basis, had no prior notice.
3. The Prime Minister referred to messages he had sent to the Prime Minister of Japan and to the President of the United States since the announcement.3
4. The Prime Minister referred also to the dialogue being conducted in Paris with the Chinese Ambassador and to the conditions which the latter put forward as a basis for normalising relationships. The possibility of developing a second dialogue in Belgrade was noted.
5. Finally, the Cabinet noted that the President’s announcement had to be taken to mean that in the last analysis the United States may desert Taiwan in respect of its United Nations membership even though the text contained a passage about preserving the interests of ‘old friends’. The Cabinet agreed that in these circumstances Australia would need to keep its support of Taiwan under review and if necessary, put more emphasis on the point that it is for Taiwan itself to indicate whether it desires to have its membership preserved.
[NAA: A1838, 3107/38/18, xvii]
1 See Document 181.
2 Document 207.
3 Documents 213 and 214.