Monday, August 10, 2015

Days of 1989: July 1, Bush's Special Envoys Visit Beijing in Secret

On July 1, 1989, National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft and Associate Secretary of State Larry Eagleburger arrived at Beijing. They held talks with Deng Xiaoping, Li Peng, Yang Shangkun, and other Chinese officials.

After the massacre, White House had immediately announced a suspension of high-level contacts between the two governments. However, President Bush was so worried about the Sino-US relationship that he penned a private letter to Deng Xiaoping. Soon after receive a positive response, he dispatched Scowcroft and Eagleburger as special envoys to maintain communication channels. Although Bush thought the mission was successful, he was nonetheless concerned that China did not provide any response of substance.

The July visit was kept in secret for a few months until in December of that year when a second visit to Beijing by Scowcroft was discovered by the media.


Days of 1989

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