Los Angeles. July 15.—President Nixon announced tonight that he has accepted an invitation to visit China to seek the normalization of relations between the two countries.

Mr Nixon, in a nationwide television address, said he will visit Peking some time before May next year.

Arrangements for the visit were made during a secret visit to Peking last weekend by Dr Henry Kissinger, Mr Nixon’s foreign affairs adviser. Mr Nixon revealed that Dr Kissinger held talks in Peking with Mr Chou En-lai the Chinese Prime Minister during his visit there last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.- Reuter.

Ian McDonald writes from Washington: The President disclosed that Dr Kissinger had visited Peking between July 9 and July 11 at a time when officially he was in Pakistan as part of his round-the-world tour.

He said that his impending meeting with the leaders in China, was “a major development in our efforts to build a lasting peace” in the world.

While not dealing specifically with the question of China's representation in the United Nations or United States relations with Formosa, Mr Nixon emphasized that he wished to put the Administration’s policy in the clearest context.

He noted that he had said on several occasions that there could be no stable and enduring peace without the participation of the People’s Republic of China and the 750 million people who lived there. That was why he had undertaken to bring about more normal relations between the two countries.

Any United States action on China would not be taken at the expense of its “old friends”, he said. Nor would it be directed against any other nation. The President said he would continue to seek friendly relations with all nations.

It was bis profound conviction, he said, that all nations would gain from a reduction of tension.

He deeply hoped that his journey to Peking could become a journey for peace—not just for the present generation but tor future generations on earth.
Paris peace talks, page 5