Interview: Veteran diplomat: Deng's U.S. visit "a historic decision"

Special

Report:30th Anniversary of Sino-U.S. Diplomatic

Relations

by Chinese media writer Wang Jiangang

NEW YORK, Jan. 28 (Chinese media) -- On Jan. 28, 1979, Deng Xiaoping, then vice

premier of the People's Republic of China, flew across the Pacific Ocean to kick

off his 9-day historic visit to the United States.

A tall, middle-aged Chinese interpreter accompanied Deng all the way

through the journey, as recorded in historical photos and videos. He was Ji

Chaozhu, who earned fame for interpreting for many Chinese leaders and later

became under secretary-general of the United Nations.

"It was a historic decision for Deng to visit the United States," recalled

Ji in an exclusive interview with Chinese media in New York, as both countries are

marking the 30th anniversary of the visit.

"Deng's visit helped the world to have a better and clear understanding of

the upbeat, vigorous and peace-loving new China," he said, calling it "one of

the greatest achievements" of the visit.

Many people have witnessed the development of China-U.S. relations, but

those who have the chance to witness the process at "zero distance" are one in a

million -- and Ji is one of them.

Born in north China's Shanxi Province in 1929, Ji came with his family to

the United States and spent his teenage years here. He also attended Harvard,

before making the decision, as did many others of his generation, to return to

his motherland and serve New China after its founding in 1949.

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Since then, he had served in the Chinese

Foreign Ministry for many years, interpreting for China's top leaders and

bearing witness to many significant events in Chinese diplomacy.

"Deng's visit was extraordinary from the very beginning," a smiling Ji told

Chinese media. "Disregarding all conventional protocol practices, U.S. Vice President

Mondale and Secretary of State Vance met Deng at the airport."

U.S. presidents, vice presidents and secretaries of state rarely meet or

see guests off at the airport, but for Deng, it was an exception, Ji explained.

"(I felt) The Chinese people have stood up," Ji said of what came up to his

mind at that time.

In his long career, Ji's intimate knowledge of American culture made him a

valuable member of the Chinese diplomatic corps, especially when Henry Kissinger

made his now-famous secret visit to Beijing in 1971 to pave the way for the

Nixon visit.

In 1973, then Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai chose Ji to lead the first

diplomatic mission to the United States, to establish the country's first

liaison office in Washington. He was assigned to the Chinese embassy in

Washington after full diplomatic relations was established between the two

countries.

The New York Times noted that at the time from the Nixon visit to China

through Deng's visit to the U.S., Ji was the only person on either side capable

of interpreting from English to Chinese. The newspaper dubbed him "The

Indispensable Mr. Chi (a different pronunciation for Ji)."

Ji was held in such high regard by U.S. diplomats that Alexander Haig, as

Secretary of State under newly-elected President Ronald Reagan, in 1981

requested that China send Ji to meet with Reagan to try to defuse tensions over

Reagan's plan to sell sophisticated weapons to Taiwan. Ji has had the privilege

to meet with every U.S. president from Nixon to Clinton.

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