On this Day in Chinese History; 17 August

This day, 17 August, in 1982, the governments of China and the United States issued the “August 17 Communiqué” on the issue of US arms sales to Taiwan, in which the US government reiterated that it has no intention of violating China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Communiqué stated that the performance and quantity of weapons sold to Taiwan will not exceed the supply level during the years after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. Those sales were to be gradually reduced leading to a final settlement “after a period of time”.