James C. Thomson Jr., assistant professor of History, said last night that there can be no improvement in U.S. relations with China until the war in Vietnam is over.

Speaking in Lowell Lecture Hall at the opening of the Fifth Annual China Conference, Thomson called the war the most recent in a long series of mistakes that have marked the U.S. policy toward China.

Thomson said that U.S. policy is "irrelevant and inadequate" because it is based on the outdated assumption that containment and isolation will cause the collapse of Communist China.

The U.S.'s mismanagement of its China policy has given foreign nations deep-seated questions about America's other foreign policies," Thomson said.

Calling China one of the world's three paramount problems, Thomson named three requirements for an effective China policy:

* De-escalation and extrication from the war in Vietnam.

* A systematic program of unilateral initiative to break the present deadlock with Peking.

* Not allowing policy to be based on doubtful information from foreign capitals.

Thomson also said that in dealing with China, "it is essential to distinguish between China's highly bellicose words and her highly bellicose words and her highly cautious deeds."