'Ping-pong diplomacy' remembered in US

In 1971, long-stalled US-China relations took an unexpected turn when a pair of Chinese and US ping-pong players ran into each other during the 31st World Table Tennis Championships. That chance encounter resulted in the Chinese government's invitation to a group of US table tennis players to visit China.

"I was there with my wife, and she was taking pictures ... that helped me a lot, to have a record of my time in China," said Errol Resek. "Also, the Great Wall. It was an awesome display. Unbelievable. I was happy that I was there."

The table tennis player was one of 15 people invited by the Chinese government to take an all-expenses paid trip to China on April 10, 1971.

Forty-eight years later, Resek was a guest at a ceremony on Wednesday at the Richard Nixon Library to commemorate the moment when relations between the two superpowers began to thaw.

The event, hosted by the American Chinese Athletic Association, was attended by around 200 athletic leaders, scholars and government officials who gathered to celebrate the anniversary of so-called the ping-pong diplomacy, which opened up a new chapter in US-China relations and set the course for then-US president Richard Nixon's breakthrough visit to Beijing in 1972.

Resek said he went back to China as a tourist around 20 years later, and at that time, China had evolved rapidly.

"Wow, so much improvement, so many things going up. I was very flabbergasted about how well the Chinese are doing," he said.

David Simon, vice-president of the World Union of Olympic Cities, said ping-pong diplomacy has played a significant role in helping China gain a voice in the world stage.

Beijing still would've hosted the 2008 Olympic Games without ping-pong diplomacy, he said, but it would probably have taken longer for it to do so.

"So I believe the role of ping-pong diplomacy and its long-term impact on international sports has not been fully appreciated, and nor has that of president Nixon in helping to bring it about," he said.

The "ping heard around the world" took place during the World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, when 19-year-old US player Glenn Cowan missed his team bus and hopped on a bus carrying the Chinese team.

He was welcomed by Chinese table tennis player Zhuang Zedong, who got up from his seat to greet him and gifted him with a silk-screen portrait of the Huangshan Mountains. The chance encounter was recorded by journalists, who took photos as Cowan and the Chinese team stepped off the bus.

When Chairman Mao Zedong heard of the exchange, he invited the US team to visit China. On April 10, 1971, the 15-member group, which consisted of the team members, their spouses and team officials, became the first US delegation to visit the Chinese capital since 1949.

Peter Gao, president and founder of the American Chinese Athletic Association, who initiated the event, said ping-pong diplomacy not only shortened the distance between Chinese and Americans, but opened up a chapter in US-China relations.

"Sportsmanship breaks down the language barrier and promotes cross-cultural exchange and peace in the world," he added.

teresaliu@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily 04/12/2019 page11)