Diary Entry - 01/10/1984
Key Facts
President Reagan is involved in a critical discussion with Premier Zhao about Taiwan.
President Reagan speaks with Senators Tower (R-Texas) and Warner (R-Virginia) about their trip to the Middle East; Beirut in particular.
The United States and the Vatican establish full diplomatic relations for the first time in 117 years.
Premier Zhao (P.R.C.) arrived. We had a formal S. Lawn ceremony with full mil. honors. The day was freezing cold which held off a rain that didn’t fall till around noon. Zhao is a likeable fellow & a very capable one. Chinas communism makes room for some pvt. enterprise etc. In our Oval office meeting he took off on Taiwan being the block to full relationship & even hinted that if peaceful negotiations didn’t resolve the problem he might have to use other means. I told him we wanted a resolution of the problem but any use of force would change our relationship beyond repair. We got along fine from then on. Sens. Tower & Warner came by to report on their middle east trip. Both went, inclined to believe we should bug out of Beirut. Both came back convinced the Marines should stay & that withdrawal would be a disaster. This is going to be of great help to us with the Cong. Sen. Pete Wilson came by to pitch for buying at least some F 20 Northrop fighter planes. They are darn good planes and there is a market abroad for them but buyers are leery when they dont see us using them. I hope something can be worked out. State dinner for Zhao—same old Hollywood friends present also a house guest—Ruth Graham (Mrs. Billy G.). She was born & raised in China. The dinner was a great & enjoyable success. Isaac Stern entertained.
