Playing for Friendship
Ping pong, or table tennis, might seem like an ordinary game to play with friends or family, but it holds a special place in Chinar-US relations, as it has helped both countries get along for the last 50 years. This has been called "ping pong diplomacy (乒乓外交)"。
Judy Hoarfrost was just 15 years old when she was sent from the US to China as part of a nine- member table tennis team. The year was 1971. and for the past 20 years, relations between China and the US had been unfriendly,
But as the team toured around China, things started warming up. Hoarfrost even got to meet then-Premier Zhou Enlai. "The most unforgettable moment was Zhou shaking hands with me and looking into my eyes," Hoarfrost told China Daily. "You have opened a new page in China-US relationships," Zhou told the team.
In the years that followed the historic visit, ties between the two countries started to blossom. US president Richard Nixon would make a landmark (里程碑) visit to China in 1972, which also saw Chinese table tennis players make their own visit to the US, according to China Daily. Diplomatic relations between the US and China were fully established (建立) in 1979.
Players from both countries believed strongly in the idea of "friendship first. competition second". To this day, many of them remain friends. Hoarfrost thinks we should remember ping pong diplomacy in order "to understand the importance of people-to- people exchanges in establishing bonds, human bonds between peoples. "
Seeing tension (紧张局面) between Iwo of the world's biggest powers in recent years, Hoarfrost said China and the US should work together. "We have so much in common, and we need to build on what we have in common," she added.
