Canberra, 28 July 1972
Confidential Personal
Your note of 18 July.1 I think we are at cross purposes in talking about ’steady progress’ .
My essential point is that the present Government is just not going to approach the PRC’s position, step by unilateral step, before the elections. To move towards the PRC’s position—as distinct from trying to press on with our ‘progressive normalization’ approach, which is of course impracticable—would require a decision in principle by the Government that it would be prepared either during or at the end of the process to break off diplomatic relations with Taipei. The Government is simply not prepared at present to take that decision.
[NAA: A1838, 3107138, xi]
1 Document 339.