Recalls ’79 Trip During Talks in Beijing : Too Old to Visit U.S., Deng Tells Carter

China’s 82-year-old leader Deng Xiaoping told former President Jimmy Carter today that he is too old to visit the United States again but recalled the “extraordinary hospitality” of his last trip eight years ago.

Carter and Deng, who normalized ties between their countries on Jan. 1, 1979, hugged each other when they met in Beijing’s ornate Great Hall of the People.

“It’s been too long,” Carter said when Deng recalled that the two last met in August, 1981, during a trip to China by the former U.S. President.

Carter suggested that Deng visit the United States, but the Chinese leader laughed off the proposal, saying, “My foreign tour days are over.”

“You’re looking very young,” Carter objected.

Carter’s wife, Rosalyn, slipped her arm through Deng’s as the dignitaries posed for photographers.

When the two sat down for talks, Carter suggested that Deng visit Tibet, where the former President made a two-day trip before his arrival in Beijing on Sunday.

Deng said that he had never been to the Himalayan region and that “everyone is opposed to the idea because I might not be able to acclimatize to the altitude” in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, the world’s highest city at 12,045 feet.

“You are 20 years younger than I am,” Deng said. “I really want to go back to your age.”

“I would really like you to go back to our country,” Carter said.

“God doesn’t permit me to go back to my 60s,” replied Deng, who last visited the United States in January, 1979, as Carter’s guest shortly after the normalization of relations.

Deng noted that the “turning point” in Sino-U.S. relations occurred during the tenure of President Richard M. Nixon, whose historic 1972 trip to Beijing paved the way for the eventual resumption of ties.

But the Chinese leader added that Carter was in office when the United States severed diplomatic relations with Nationalist Taiwan and agreed to recognize Beijing as the sole government of China.

“It wasn’t easy at that time,” Deng said.