Instructions from the PRC Foreign Ministry to its negotiators at the Sino-American talks. These instructions concerned the PRC's basic policy, their attitude toward the question of expatriates, the US embargo against China, possible higher level Sino-American talks. Possible issues that could be raised by the US were also mentioned: The matter of US assets in China, the issue of shooting down commercial airliners, and the issue of cease-fire across the Taiwan Strait. Besides, the Foreign Ministry gave instructions on the attitude to adopt at the meetings as well as the need to constantly ask for instructions.