Title:Reagan in China: Don't Say Anything about the Turkeys.

• Author: Camp, Beatrice
• Position: Banquet during Ronald Reagan's 1984 visit

Text:

Twelve years after President Nixon's historic opening to China, President Ronald Reagan visited the People's Republic of China (PRC) in April 1984. The visit was a vast undertaking with an enormous entourage - Ambassador Arthur Hummel was reportedly stunned to hear that the president's party would number over 800. For a politician like Reagan who had repeatedly criticized President Jimmy Carter for establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing, it was a huge move. For the Chinese, it was a very welcome symbol of acceptance.

First lady Nancy Reagan accompanied her husband; some 600 journalists covered the trip. The Reagans toured historical and cultural sites in Beijing and attended a State Dinner at the Great Hall of the People before traveling on to Xian and Shanghai.

As a first-tour officer in the Press & Culture Section of the embassy, I helped prepare briefing materials for the cultural sites - researching details such as the correct length of a Chinese cubit used to describe the height of the terra cotta warriors in Xian. In Beijing, one of my responsibilities was making sure that The Wall Street Journal got delivered to the doors at the Diaoyutai State Guest House every morning, a task totally dependent on the unreliable flight from Hong Kong carrying the newspapers. Once Reagan and entourage moved on to Xian, the second leg of the journey, I flew to Shanghai to work in the press center for the third and last stop.

As with all presidential visits to the PRC, but especially for the first since the normalization of relations, every detail was a negotiation. One of these involved the "return banquet". The Chinese system for state visits dictated that the hosts give a welcome banquet at the Great Hall of the People on the first night; the second night the visiting dignitary hosted a return banquet, also at the Great Hall of the People. The Chinese side chose the menu both nights but the foreign visitor paid the bill the second night. As it turned out, the White House, which is to say Nancy Reagan, wanted to feature Western food. With a new hotel, the Great Wall Sheraton, about to open, the White House decided to host the Reagan return banquet there.

Word arrived at the embassy that Nancy Reagan wanted to serve turkey. Having been warned in our Mandarin training at the Foreign Service Institute that Chinese don't like eating turkey - the meat is unappetizingly dry; having knives at the table is barbaric, and so on - we sensed...