China and Ping Pong Diplomacy
During the Cultural Revolution that took place in China from 1949 to 1969, relations with the West had become extremely strained. This was when China implemented its infamous Ping Pong Diplomacy strategy which effectively restored diplomatic ties with the Western world. It was a brilliant move that took the focus away from all the problems being faced by China. Table tennis is an interesting sport and has become very popular since it was invented in Victorian England. No one would have thought at the time, it could be used as a political tool as well.
Table tennis or ping pong as it is known in various parts of the world was invented in Victorian England at the end of the 19thcentury. A few upper class lords and ladies, probably very bored, decided to turn their dining table into a playing surface and play a game of indoor tennis on it. They used whatever they could find to make a net and used a wine bottle cork as a ball. From these humble beginnings, the sport spread to become one of the world’s most popular games.
As the game became more popular, the sport went through radical changes. A ball was found in America that was perfect for use in the game and people started to use crude paddles to hit the newly discovered ball. Then there was the formation of the International Table Tennis Foundation, the ITTF, and the first world championships of the game were held in London, 1927. The rules of the game were changed significantly after 1936 when two players played the first point of a game for an hour. At present, the game is dominated by Asian countries, especially China, but it was an incident that took place in 1971 that changed the course of history.
The story of how ping pong helped to change world politics starts in 1949. It was after the U.S. backed government of the time was overthrown for the People’s Republic of China to come about, that America blocked diplomatic ties with it. Ties remained strained for more than two decades until the start of the 1970’s. Both countries had been trying to find a way to get their heads of state to meet each other, but Chinese leader Mao and American President Nixon were both unwilling to budge from their stance.
It so happened that in 1971, the 31st World Table Tennis Championships were to take place in China. This turned out to be the perfect opportunity for the two countries to make some progress. China had said that it would like to invite some citizens from America as guests to their country. After a lot of deliberation, it was decided that the U.S. table tennis team will visit China. The U.S. team was given a gracious reception and the players had a wonderful time. This led to an easing off of diplomatic ties even further and U.S. embargoes were lifted from China. Diplomatic ties were fully restored a little while later when President Nixon visited China after the U.S. team returned home.
Table tennis is a great sport and as this example shows its use can extend to something other than simply sports. It seems that the game was even responsible for easing tensions between North and South Korea when a table tennis team consisting of both countries players played in Japan. Even though there were great hopes that this event might lead to the reunification of the two nations, it has not occurred as yet. Maybe we should give table tennis its due credit where it is due but should not expect too much from the sport.
This interesting example shows us that sports can be used as a means of ending wars, re-establishing diplomatic ties, and making friends from enemies. The power of sports extends well beyond the playing field and crosses into many different boundaries. We see this take place in football, basketball and many Olympic sports. The world is ready to accept lasting peace and sports can very well take us there.
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