On August 17, 1982 (the 28th of the June lunar month), the Sino-US Joint Communique on August 17 was published.

On January 1, 1979, after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, relations between the two countries have been improved and developed to a certain extent. Despite this, relations between the two countries are still shrouded in a thick dark cloud. The "Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and the United States" clearly pointed out that an important principle for normalizing relations between the two countries is that the United States recognizes that there is only one China, Taiwan is a part of China, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the only legal government of China. However, after the establishment of diplomatic relations, the United States enacted a "Taiwan Relations Act", treating Taiwan as an independent political entity and insisting on selling weapons to Taiwan. This blatant violation of China's sovereignty and interference in China's internal affairs has been resolutely opposed by the China government and people. The China government has repeatedly demanded that the United States stop selling weapons to Taiwan, believing that if this issue is not properly resolved, Sino-US relations cannot be maintained and consolidated, and there is a complete possibility of retrogression. On August 17, 1982, after consultations and negotiations, China and the United States finally reached an agreement on a step-by-step solution to the issue of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and issued the "Joint Communique." In the "Joint Communique", the two sides first reiterated the fundamental principles governing Sino-US relations established in the "Shanghai Communique" and the "Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and the United States", namely,"mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs." This principle is the principle that guides all aspects of bilateral relations, including of course the issue of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. This not only grasps the key to the problem, but also points out the right way to solve the problem. On the issue of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, the Chinese government's consistent position is that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan are an act that violates China's sovereignty. The Chinese government firmly opposes it. At the same time, it also takes into account historical factors, and proceeds from reality, agrees that the United States should earnestly respect China's sovereignty. Under the premise of gradually reducing and ultimately terminating arms sales to Taiwan.

In the "Joint Communique", the United States made three commitments: first, the performance and quantity of the weapons it sells to Taiwan will not exceed the levels in recent years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and China. Second, it is prepared to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan. Sales, and third, this issue will be finally resolved over a period of time. The U.S. government stated: "It does not seek to implement a long-standing policy of selling weapons to Taiwan" and "recognizes China's consistent position on completely resolving this issue."

The issuance of the "August 17 Joint Communique between China and the United States" broke the deadlock between the two countries on the issue of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.