ABSTRACT
U.S. conciliatory moves toward the People’s Republic of China (PRC) can be traced to early 1964 when the proposal to place trade of nonstrategic goods with Beijing on the same basis as US trade with the Soviet Union was considered. Chinese initial reactions to US initiatives were neither positive nor negative. Lack of any angry outcry or rejection of US efforts over time was viewed by China specialists as a positive signal, a favorable condition for continuing the process toward normalization. Watergate was a major factor distracting any concentrated US effort toward China. The Taiwan Relations Act enables the United States to conduct unofficial relations with Taiwan on a wide range of activities, including sales of defense weapons. The United States opened talks on peaceful nuclear cooperation with the PRC in 1981 and intensified them in 1983. Since the United States established diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1979, there have been two government-to-government arms transactions.
