Nixon White House Tapes › Tape 20 › Conversation 020-112

Nixon phone call with Ziegler on China-US relations and Taiwan

Monday, February 28, 1972 · 11:22 PM–11:25 PM ET · White House Telephone · 3 min

ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President); Ziegler, Ronald L.Conversation020-112 on Tape 20 (tape position 03:39:53–03:43:00)StartMonday, February 28, 1972 at 11:22 PMEndMonday, February 28, 1972 at 11:25 PMRecording deviceWhite House TelephoneSourceNixon Library record for 020-112 ↗

AI Summary

President Nixon and Press Secretary Ronald Ziegler discuss the positive public reception of the President's return from his historic trip to the People's Republic of China. The pair evaluates media coverage of the visit, specifically addressing inaccurate reporting by the Washington Post regarding U.S. defense commitments to Taiwan. Nixon directs Ziegler to deflect further press inquiries on the Taiwan issue by referring back to previous statements made by himself and Henry Kissinger to avoid complicating sensitive diplomatic relations.

Audio

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Transcript (AI-generated)

This transcript is incomplete. The transcription skipped stretches of speech — roughly 1 minute of this recording (about 35% of it) is represented by only a few words. Listen to the audio rather than relying on the text below; a corrected transcript is queued.

This transcript was generated automatically by AI (WhisperX) and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Names and numbers are often wrong; speakers are not identified. Do not cite it as authoritative — verify against the audio and the finding aid.

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· Click a timestamp to play from that point; the page address then links to that moment (e.g. #t=125).
Hello.
Yes, sir.
Well, that seemed to be a good TV homecoming, didn't you think so?
Yeah, fantastic.
Tremendous.
Yeah, it's a good... People were blocked for... Yeah.
Backed up for four months.
Yeah.
And the impact of the visit, Mr. President, is just coming home now.
I've had people calling here, and I don't know if they're talking about...
I think, too, that we have adequately now...
made a so-called report.
Yes, sir.
That was a good length.
Yes, sir.
I mean, I covered every damn point that was to be covered.
Absolutely.
And I think the Taiwan matter is going right.
Yeah.
Now, tomorrow, a question probably should be demanded that, what is the situation with regard to our commitment?
Look, gentlemen, Dr. Kushner covered it in his background, or in his Shanghai, the president has covered it.
I'm not going to say any more about it.
It's done.
I don't, you understand, we don't want to continue to say it because it just, it hurts us with the Chinese.
They've got a hell of a problem.
We're doing it, but we don't want to continue to throw it up in their faces.
Right.
No, I think that your remarks tonight, I think, handled it perfectly.
And you can just refer to that.
Yeah.
All right.
But I think the...
Well, they can never go away because they know that deep down, they know that Taiwan eventually is going to have to be solved.
that 14 million aren't going to be able to stand up to 750 million.
That's the way the world was made.
But on the other hand, we've done everything we can.
On the backgrounder thing, I think the Taiwan thing, what really exacerbated it here is a carnival story that I see the Washington Post had its headline, Nixon agrees to withdraw from Taiwan.
Well, that's just a totally inaccurate headline.
And I don't know if
That did not play that way.
That's right.
Who?
Brackle.
Brackle, good.
I was told that I did not play that way.
I heard you did, too.
Very well.
But, you know, the carnage was...
He was trying to do something.
Pressure.
Well, you'll see.
Okay.
Bye.

NARA Description

On February 28, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon and Ronald L. Ziegler talked on the telephone from 11:22 pm to 11:25 pm. The White House Telephone taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 020-112 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid

Conversation No. 20-112

Date: February 28, 1972
Time: 11:22 pm - 11:25 pm
Location: White House Telephone

The President talked with Ronald L. Ziegler.

     Reception at airport
          -Crowd reception
               -Television coverage
          -Impact
               -Calls to Ziegler
          -Report to nation

     Taiwan, Republic of China question about US defense commitment

          -Handling of press
               -Henry A. Kissinger’s comment in Shanghai
               -The President’s remarks

     -US-People’s Republic of China [PRC] relations
          -Congressional concern
               -The President’s remarks
          -PRC-Taiwan relations
               -Prospects
          -Washington Post headline
               -Stanley Karnow
               -Max Frankel’s article
               -Wire services
               -Karnow

Also recorded on February 29, 1972

  • 020-106 10:52 PM · 8 min — President Richard M. Nixon, White House operator, and Henry A. Kissinger talked on the telephone from 10:52 pm to 11:00 pm.
  • 020-107 11:00 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:00 pm and 11:05 pm.
  • 020-108 11:05 PM · 6 min — President Richard M. Nixon and William P. Rogers talked on the telephone from 11:05 pm to 11:11 pm.
  • 020-109 11:11 PM · 7 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone from 11:11 pm to 11:12 pm.
  • 020-110 11:12 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and John B. Connally talked on the telephone from 11:12 pm to 11:15 pm.
  • 020-111 11:15 PM · 5 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:15 pm and 11:22 pm.
  • 020-113 11:25 PM · 8 sec — President Richard M. Nixon and the White House operator talked on the telephone at an unknown time between 11:25 pm and 11:28 pm.
  • 020-114 11:28 PM · 2 min — President Richard M. Nixon and Charles G. ("Bebe") Rebozo talked on the telephone from 11:28 pm to 11:29 pm.

All 51 conversations from February 29, 1972 →

Cite this conversation

Conversation 020-112, February 29, 1972. White House Tapes, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives. Audio and AI transcript via Easy Nixon, https://www.easynixon.org/tapes/020-112 (accessed October 12, 2026).