With Congress leaders

Vice Premier Deng on January 30 attended a luncheon with Senators and a tea party given by the International Relations Committee of the House. After the luncheon with Senators, Vice Premier Deng had a private meeting with Senate leaders. Answering questions raised by Senators about Taiwan, the Vice Premier said: "We no longer use the term 'liberation of Taiwan.' As long as Taiwan returns to the motherland, we will respect the present realities, the present system there."

"On the one hand we respect the realities in Taiwan, on the other we must bring Taiwan back to the embrace of the motherland. By respecting the realities there, we will be speeding up its return," the Chinese Vice Premier told reporters later.

Sino-U.S. Scientific, Technological, Cultural Agreements signed

Vice Premier Deng and President Carter signing a scientific and technological co-operation agreement and a cultural agreement at the White House (XINHUA)

Vice Premier Deng and President Carter on January 31 signed a scientific and technological agreement and a cultural agreement between the Chinese and U.S. Governments.

According to the five-year agreement on scientific and technological co-operation, China and the United States shall enter into co-operation on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit in the fields of agriculture, energy, space, health, environment, earth sciences, engineering and other areas of science and technology and their management, as well as educational and scholarly exchanges. The two sides will encourage and facilitate contacts and co-operation between Chinese and American government agencies, universities, organizations and institutions and conclusion of accords between them.

President Carter and Vice Premier Deng both spoke at the signing ceremony.

An Irreversible Course. President Carter said: "A strong and secure China which contributes constructively to world affairs is in our interest, and a globally engaged, confident, and strong America is in China's interest." "What we have accomplished together during the last three days has been exceptional," he said, adding, "we have charted a new and irreversible course toward a firmer, more constructive and more hopeful relationship."

"While we pursue independent foreign policies, our separate actions in many places can contribute to similar goals. Those goals are a world of both security and peace, a world of diversity and stability, a world of independent nations free of outside domination. Both our countries have a special interest in promoting the peace and prosperity of the people of East Asia," President Carter stressed.

The U.S. President also announced that in the near future, American consulates will be opened in Shanghai and Guangzhou (Canton), and Chinese consulates will be opened in Houston and San Francisco. He added that hundreds of American students will go to study in China and hundreds of Chinese students will further their education in the United States.

The First Fruits of Friendly Co-operation. Vice Premier Deng said in his speech: "Our two sides have done a significant job. And this is not the end, but the beginning." "We anticipated that, following the normalization of Sino-U.S. relations, there would be a rapid development of friendly co-operation between our two countries in various fields. The agreements we have just signed are the first fruits of our endeavours," the Vice Premier stated.

"There are many more areas of bilateral co-operation and many more channels waiting for us to develop. We have to continue our efforts," the Vice Premier stressed.

"It is my belief that growing contacts and co-operation among nations and increased interchanges and understanding between peoples will make the world we live in more safe, more stable and more peaceful. Therefore. the work we have just done is not only in the interests of the Chinese and American peoples but of the people of the world as well," said Vice Premier Deng.