Meeting With the Chief of the Liaison Office of the People's Republic of China White House Statement.

The President received the new Chief of the Liaison Office of the People's Republic of China to Washington, Ambassador Ch'ai Tse-min, for a courtesy call this morning at 11:30. Ambassador Ch'ai arrived in Washington on August 8.

The President welcomed Ambassador Ch'ai, and they had a friendly conversation. The Ambassador conveyed regards from Chinese Premier Hua Kuo-feng, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Yeh Chien-ying, and Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-p'ing.

The President welcomed the recent expansion in our commercial, cultural, and scientific exchanges. He asked Secretary Vance and Dr. Brzezinski to maintain close contact with Ambassador Ch'ai on international issues of mutual interest. President Carter asked Ambassador Ch'ai to convey his best wishes to Premier Hua Kuo-feng, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Yeh Chien-ying, and Vice Premier Teng Hsiao-p'ing.

Present at the meeting were Ambassador Han Hsu, Deputy Chief of the Liaison Office; Third Secretary Hsu Shangwei; Secretary of State Cyrus Vance; Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; Richard Holbrooke, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs; and Michel Oksenberg, NSC staff member.