Published : 17/08/2025

On August 17, 1982, China and the United States signed and released the "August 17 Communiqué".

The "August 17 Communiqué", or the "China-U.S. Joint Communiqué on U.S. Arms Sales to Taiwan", is the last of the three joint communiqués between China and the United States, and also the most controversial one.

The communiqué begins by stating that the question of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan was not settled in the course of negotiations between the two countries on establishing diplomatic relations, and that the two sides held differing positions.

The Chinese side reiterated that the question of Taiwan is China's internal affair.

On the other hand, the U.S. side stated that considering China's policy of striving for a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan question, they declared that they do not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan.

Its arms sales to Taiwan "will not exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms, the level of those supplied in recent years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China".

The U.S. also stated that it intended "gradually to reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan, leading, over a period of time, to a final resolution".

The communiqué also mentions that both China and the United States reaffirm in the communiqué that "respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity and non-interference in each other's internal affairs constitute the fundamental principles guiding United States-China relations," and both sides emphatically stated that these principles continue to govern all aspects of their relations.

The "August 17 Communiqué" is an important milestone in the normalisation of China-U.S. relations.

Since then, the three joint communiqués, including the "Shanghai Communiqué" and the "Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America," have become the guiding documents for the development of China-U.S. relations, with lasting influence to this day.