Ronald Reagan on China

Ronald Reagan's position on China centered on pursuing good relations and cooperation with the People's Republic of China (PRC) while upholding commitments to Taiwan, the Republic of China (ROC). He viewed engagement, particularly in areas like trade, technology, and cultural exchange, as mutually beneficial and a positive step toward world peace and stability. His administration concluded an agreement on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and sought to expand commerce, seeing mutual interests even with a competitor nation. He stressed that friendship must be based on acknowledging differences rather than fiction to be durable.

However, this engagement was fundamentally qualified by his unwavering commitment to the defense of Taiwan, as codified in the Taiwan Relations Act. Reagan was critical of the prior administration's handling of normalization, believing it involved unnecessary concessions that jeopardized Taiwan's security. He pledged to enforce the Act, which mandates providing defensive weapons to Taiwan and treating relations with the ROC as official, while simultaneously working to treat all Chinese officials with fairness and dignity. This created a dual-track approach: pragmatic partnership with the mainland and firm support for the island's security.