This is true of Japan and the nations of Western Europe. It is also true of the People’s Republic of China. That is why, apart from other issues, President Reagan’s meeting with Chinese leaders next spring is vitally important. Our relationship with China is a key element of our strategy vis-a-vis the Soviet Union. Many in the United States opposed our China initiative 11 years ago because of their opposition to communism in any form. They contended that since both China and Russia are communist powers, we should treat both as potential adversaries. They failed to recognize a profound difference. The Soviet Union threatens us. China does not. If we had not undertaken that initiative and China had been forced back into the Soviet orbit, the threat to the West of Soviet communist aggression would be infinitely greater than it is today. When I travelled to China in 1972 to meet Mao and Zhou, it was in the interests of both nations that we forge a new link based not on common ideals, which bind us to our Western allies, but on common interests.
