Teng: On yes. And before I forget, the Marshall [Yeh Chien-ying] asked yesterday evening that I send greetings to the Doctor and his wife.
Kissinger: I appreciate that very much; he is an old friend.
Teng: And he also asked me to say that because of his busy schedule, he will not be able to meet with you. I think he has met you several times.
Kissinger: I understand. He greeted me on my first visit.
Teng: Actually, on our side, he is the Minister of National Defense and Chief of the General Staff. And that is why he is very happy that our government has extended the invitation to your Secretary of Defense.
Kissinger: Yes. I wondered if that meant that he would speak only to the Secretary of Defense and not to the Secretary of State.
Teng: I don't think it means that. It means that the U.S. Secretary of Defense is invited to Peking and in that event I don't think it would be very easy for people to say that our relations have become even more cold.
Kissinger: That's true. Let me make a few observations if I may. First, we agree on the desirability of demonstrating not only that our relations have not become colder, but in fact our relations are becoming warmer. We think that is in the interest of both of our countries. And we are prepared to do this not only symbolically, but substantively.
Now, in the security field, I had some discussions with the Prime Minister on my last evening here last time and I want you to know that those principles we still maintain.
TOP SECRET/NODIS/XGDS
