This was an agreement reached between the Reagan administration and the Chinese in which the US promised to limit the quantity and quality of arms sold by the US to Taiwan. Lilley describes to readers how the Reagan administration, in an internal memorandum signed by the president, interpreted the agreement in such a way that it seems to have been actually in Taiwan's interests.
對台軍售的真意回憶錄中，在台灣問題上，李潔明對雷根在一九八二年為「八一七公報」（內容為對台軍售的質與量限制）寫下對台灣有利的解釋聲明的描述，則是給讀者的第二項驚喜。