Word: haig
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...Haig forges ties with China but angers Moscow...
...somewhat of a nervous time, but we did take care of a lot of good business." So said Secretary of State Alexander Haig to President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines in Manila last week, summarizing his three days of talks with Chinese leaders in Peking. Haig probably understated both the achievements and the hazards of what had been accomplished. The Secretary not only enhanced a U.S.-China relationship that had been deteriorating since Ronald Reagan took office but moved the two countries closer to a partnership that was sure to alarm the Soviets. The most visible symbol...
There was both peril and promise in that offer. The Soviets are all but paranoid about the Chinese, with whom they share a 4,100-mile border. To the Kremlin, Haig's trip was one more proof that virtually every policy move by the new Administration is dictated by its anti-Soviet stance. The announcement of the arms sale, no matter how small, added to tensions. In Moscow, Georgi Arbatov, director of the Soviet Institute for the Study of the U.S.A. and Canada, told TIME Diplomatic Correspondent Strobe Talbott that the Haig trip was "all part of a campaign...
Some diplomatic observers wondered about the timing of the arms-sale decision, which was made with seeming haste at a National Security Council meeting shortly before Haig flew off to Peking. At the moment, the Soviets are intensely concerned about liberalizing trends in Poland. A new U.S.China accord might well increase Moscow's sense of isolation and lead the Kremlin leaders to conclude that nothing would be lost by cracking down on the Poles. U.S. officials insist that the arms-sale offer was merely a natural step in improving relations with Peking. They contend that the U.S. has retained...
Reported by Johanna McGeary/Washington and Gregory H. Wierzynski with Haig...