Speaking of " Ping Pong Diplomacy ", this is already a period of history that everyone is familiar with. However, this major event that changed Sino-US relations and even the world structure is quite interesting if it can be restored to the specific participants. .
1
In late January 1971, Goto Kashiji, who was staying at the Beijing Hotel, was a little anxious.
Kaji Goto is the president of the Japan Table Tennis Association and was originally the president of the Asian Table Tennis Federation. However, he just resigned angrily because he supported China's application for the Asian Table Tennis Federation and failed to cancel Taiwan's membership. At this time, he had been in Beijing for several days, but he never got the answer he wanted.
Kaji Goto made a special trip to Beijing as a "special envoy" with only one purpose: to invite China to send a delegation to participate in the 31st World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan.
At that time, China had entered the fifth year of the "Cultural Revolution". Affected by this, as a decisive force in the world table tennis world, the Chinese table tennis delegation had already missed two world championships. The 31st World Table Tennis Championships will be held in Japan, so the organizing committee very much hopes to invite a Chinese delegation to participate.
In February 1971, Song Zhong (left), the head of the Chinese Table Tennis Association, and Kazuji Goto (right), president of the Japan Table Tennis Association, shook hands at the signing ceremony of the China-Japan Sports Exchange Minutes of Talks
Kazuji Goto came to China , in fact, it was also under a lot of pressure.
At that time, Sino-Japanese relations had not yet been normalized, and the right-wing Japanese ruling cabinet was relatively hostile to China. Goto Kashiji's trip to China was obstructed by Japanese right-wing forces, and even threatened and intimidated. However, Goto Kaji overcame all kinds of resistance and came to China with Hei Muraoka, then representative of the Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association, and Takeshi Mori, director of the Japan Table Tennis Association. After
arrived in Beijing, Kaji Goto put forward his request and gave a draft, hoping that the two sides could produce a "meeting minutes." But the reply China gave him after detailed study left him a bit confused.
China proposed that it is okay to publish "minutes of talks", but two conditions must be met: first, the "Three Political Principles of Sino-Japanese Relations" should be placed in the first article of the minutes; second, one sentence must be added, "Taiwan is China's A province of China is China’s sacred territory.”
This puts Goto Kazuo in a dilemma.
The so-called "Three Political Principles of Sino-Japanese Relations" were proposed by Zhou Enlai when he met with the Japanese Socialist Party delegation in July 1958. The three points are actually very simple:
(1) Do not implement policies hostile to China;
(2) Do not participate in the conspiracy to create "two Chinas";
(3) Do not obstruct the restoration of normal relations between China and Japan.
In order to show his sincerity, Goto Kazuji took the initiative after arriving in China and proposed that observing the "Three Political Principles of Sino-Japanese Relations" could be included in the second article of the "Minutes of the Talks". However, when the Chinese side proposed to put it in the first article and add that sentence, he felt helpless: I am just a representative of Japanese people engaged in table tennis. What authority do I have to decide these things?
Goto Kaji refused to write this, but the Chinese personnel insisted that it must be written, and the negotiations reached a deadlock.
The time is about to enter February, and the 31st World Table Tennis Championships will be held at the end of March. Kazuji Goto himself feels that there is little hope and is preparing to pack his bags and return to his country.
However, on January 30, Goto Kaji received a notice from China: first, it would no longer insist on the terms that were originally requested; second, China would send a delegation to participate in the 31st World Table Tennis Championships and firmly support Mr. Goto will successfully host this World Table Tennis Championships.
is happy from the sky.
Goto Kashiji later learned that China’s sudden change in attitude was mainly due to one person.
2
At midnight on January 29, 1971, Zhou Enlai held an emergency coordination meeting.
Among the attendees were those from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Sports Commission, and the Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Zhou Enlai got straight to the point: In everything, we must look at the substance and not engage in formal arguments.
Zhou Enlai clearly pointed out that since Kaji Goto had agreed to include the "Three Political Principles of Sino-Japanese Relations" in the minutes, why did he still have to write "Taiwan is a province of China"? Finally, Zhou Enlai seemed to get a little angry: He is not the Foreign Minister of Japan. You are asking too much for such a friend.
Zhou Enlai's vision is indeed longer-term than that of many people.
When time entered the 1970s, the entire international situation had actually undergone subtle changes.
The Soviet Union has completely lost its face towards China. After the " Zhenbao Island Conflict", the former "Big Brother" deployed millions of troops on the Sino-Soviet border and continued to threaten with force and even nuclear weapons.
The United States is stuck in the quagmire of the "Vietnam War", and its edge is no longer what it used to be. Judging from the clues on various previous occasions, the United States is actually constantly sending explicit or implicit signals: We are willing to engage with China.
At this time, China was also in the predicament of the "Cultural Revolution", and almost all channels of external communication were closed. Facing the international situation that is obviously about to change, it is actually time for China to seek a breakthrough.
However, just after Zhou Enlai made the decision to agree to the Chinese delegation's expedition, the unpredictable international situation posed another problem for China: In early March 1971, CambodianPrime Minister and Minister of DefenseGeneral Lon Nol and His Royal Highness Deputy Prime Minister Shrimada took advantage of the occasion of Cambodia's supreme leader Prince Sihanouk's visit to the Soviet Union to launch a military coup.
Prince Sihanouk was staying in Beijing at that time, and the Chinese government immediately expressed support for the Sihanouk regime. However, Sihanouk's government-in-exile immediately proposed that China and North Korea could express their support more forcefully - such as giving up participation in the 31st World Table Tennis Championships because athletes from the Lon Nol Group were participating.
Zhou Enlai decided to listen to the opinions of the Chinese table tennis delegation first.
At the discussion held overnight, the table tennis delegation also had two opinions: one side believed that politics was the biggest issue and could not go; while the other side believed that since it had promised Japan, it must keep its word and participate in the table tennis movement of China. , and also beneficial to the entire country. Some people also suggested that they should go, but not compete, and go to the scene to carry out the struggle.
Zhou Enlai waited until 3 a.m. in the Great Hall of the People until he heard the summary report of the table tennis delegation. He made a decision: keep his promise and participate in the competition!
At the same time, he also gave instructions: If we encounter players from the Lon Nol Group or the South Vietnam Group, we will abstain.
Of course, Zhou Enlai, who was thoughtful, immediately took up the pen himself, stayed up all night, wrote a clearly logical situation report, and asked Mao Zedong for instructions.
After reading it, Mao Zedong wrote an instruction on the report: "Follow it. Our team should go. And be prepared to kill a few people (Note: At that time, the Japanese right wing claimed that it would assassinate the Chinese delegation). It is better not to die. To be unafraid of hardship, 2. Not afraid of death.”
The Chinese table tennis team set out for Nagoya.
Xu Yinsheng later served as chairman of the China Table Tennis Association. According to his recollection, on that night, he advocated going, while Zhuang Zedong advocated not going.
3
On the evening of March 21, 1971, at Tokyo Haneda Airport, Song Zhong, Secretary-General of the Chinese Table Tennis Delegation, was shocked.
As soon as the Chinese table tennis delegation got off the plane, they received a warm welcome from Japan. The number of Japanese representatives from all walks of life who rushed to the airport alone exceeded 2,000. Many Japanese people held the national flags of China and Japan, welcome slogans and flowers, and packed the airport hall.
Song Zhong later learned that because of the participation of the Chinese delegation, the specifications of the Nagoya World Table Tennis Championships were suddenly upgraded. This is not only because Chinese table tennis is at the first-class level in the world, but also because this is the first time since the "Cultural Revolution". For the first time, China sent a large-scale delegation to Japan.
The 31st World Table Tennis Championships opened as scheduled. The Chinese table tennis delegation, which had been absent from the world stage for a long time, descended like a tiger, reinjecting a "Chinese whirlwind" into the entire world table tennis world, winning the men's team, women's singles, women's doubles, Mixed doubles champion.In the men's singles competition, three-time World Championship champion Zhuang Zedong met Ke Wu, a player from Lon Nol Group, in the second round. According to the strategy formulated before the game, Zhuang Zedong chose to abstain and his opponent won without a fight. Although Zhuang Zedong was past his prime at that time, he was still the number one player of the Chinese men's team. His abstention should have had a big impact on the Chinese men's team's loss of the men's singles gold medal.
However, compared to the fighting on the field, Song Zhong pays more attention to some off-field details.
During the World Table Tennis Championships, the ITTF held a special meeting. At this meeting, Song Zhong publicly accused South Vietnam at the time of proposing that Taiwan join the ITTF as a "US imperialist conspiracy" and said that the Lon Nol Group was a "puppet supported by US imperialism." However, Song Zhong discovered that Stinghoven, the head of the US table tennis delegation who was attending the meeting, did not care. Instead, he took the initiative to chat with Song Zhong after the meeting.
Zhuang Zedong and Steenhoven competed in football skills. Steenhoven later recalled that he understood the Chinese people's protests at the time and said: "If it were me, I would say the same thing."
To Song Zhong's surprise, Steenhoven's greetings contained more than just " Polite remarks such as "Chinese athletes play table tennis very well", and a meaningful "joke": "I heard that you have invited teams from five countries to visit your country. I don't know when it will happen." Invite us? "
At this World Table Tennis Championships, the Chinese delegation did send invitations to delegations from five countries: the United Kingdom, Australia, Colombia, Canada and Nigeria, but the United States and China were still "hostile" at that time State, so Steenhoven's words should be a joke no matter how you listen to them.
However, because of these words, Song Zhong immediately remembered what the American Table Tennis Association representative to the ITTF, Rafford Harrison, said to him shortly before the World Table Tennis Championships: "The young players in the United States are really Want to visit China...President Nixon has lifted the ban on American citizens traveling to China. If you give us a visa, we can visit China at any time."
That night, the Chinese delegation was established with the head of the delegation, Zhao Zhenghong, and the secretary. A seven-member temporary party committee was formed in Changsong to discuss whether there was any "overtone" in Steenhoven's words. The result of the discussion was to immediately report it to the country.
And in the process of reporting to the country and receiving instructions, something unexpected happened.
4
On the afternoon of April 4, 1971, on the shuttle bus of the Chinese delegation, Zhuang Zedong suddenly became confused.
At that time, the players of the Chinese team had already boarded the shuttle bus, and the driver was about to start. Suddenly, the door opened, and a foreign athlete with yellow hair and blue eyes came up. As soon as the athlete got on the bus, he found that the whole bus was filled with Chinese athletes with black hair and yellow skin. He was stunned and wanted to turn around and get off, but by this time, the shuttle bus had already started moving.
This foreign athlete, who obviously got on the wrong bus, could only stand facing the car door. When he turned around, the national letters on the back of his sportswear were also revealed: U.S.A.
An American athlete got on the Chinese team's bus inexplicably.
The American athlete faced the car door and did not dare to move. All the members of the Chinese team also looked at each other, and no one dared to talk to the athletes from the "American emperor".
For a full 10 minutes, the carriage was silent and no one spoke.
The entire shuttle bus trip took about 15 minutes, and we arrived at our destination in 5 minutes. At this time, Zhuang Zedong walked towards the American athlete under the surprised eyes of his teammates. At that time, a teammate gently pulled his clothes: "Xiao Zhuang, don't go, ignore him, don't cause trouble."
Zhuang Zedong's answer was: "It's okay, he is just an athlete."
Zhuang Zedong took the translator and walked to the man In front of the American athletes, he first introduced himself, and then learned that the name of the American athlete was Cohen . Cohen naturally knew the three-time World Championship champion Zhuang Zedong, and he suddenly became very excited.
Moreover, Zhuang Zedong not only went up to say hello, but also took out a one-meter-long Hangzhou brocade from his bag and gave it to Cohen as a gift.
According to Zhuang Zedong's later recollection, he did this for two reasons.
Zhuang Zedong and Cohen. "The Truth of History" written by Lin Ke, Xu Tao, and Wu Xujun revealed that Mao Zedong's invitation to Snow to climb the Tiananmen Rostrum was a signal to the top leaders of the United States. But top U.S. officials failed to capture this subtle detail. Kissinger recorded in "The White House Years", "Snow himself later pointed out when talking about this incident: 'Everything that Chinese leaders do publicly has a purpose.' It was only after the incident that I finally understood..."
First, he feels that China is a country of etiquette and "you cannot leave others alone." Second, he remembered what Chairman Mao said not long ago when he met with his old American friend Snow on the Tiananmen Gate: "We must place great hopes on the American people." When the
shuttle bus arrived at the station, the Japanese media reporters who had been following the Chinese team's every itinerary were surprised. Discovery: A Chinese athlete actually stood smiling with an American athlete.
The entire media team exploded at that time - this was undoubtedly an explosive news.
The next day, the news was published in prominent positions in major Japanese newspapers.
At this time, the Chinese delegation fell into disagreements: Did Zhuang Zedong's behavior violate foreign affairs disciplines? Do you have to return to your country to await punishment?
At the same time, after receiving Cohen's report, the U.S. delegation's deputy leader Harrison made a formal request to the Chinese delegation: "The U.S. table tennis team hopes to visit China."
Do you want to invite the U.S. team? ? This kind of "big thing" is naturally not something Zhuang Zedong can decide, nor can the delegation decide.
A report was quickly placed in front of a murder case in Zhongnanhai.
5
On the evening of April 6, Zhongnanhai. Mao Zedong took sleeping pills in advance and prepared to go to bed early.
Shortly before going to bed, Mao Zedong had just reviewed the report "On whether to invite the American table tennis delegation to visit China" submitted by Zhou Enlai.
This report has actually been suppressed by Mao Zedong for three days.
The U.S. table tennis team’s request to visit China also caused quite a stir in Zhongnanhai.
The advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Sports Commission at that time was that the time was not yet ripe. The reason is that the United States has not shown sincerity on the "Taiwan issue" and is still invading Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, threatening China's security. Judging from the method of the visit, the United States should first send senior officials instead of sending a table tennis team.
Zhou Enlai circled the reports of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Sports Commission and submitted them to Mao Zedong. After three days of suppression, Mao Zedong finally held a circle review on the evening of April 6 and refused the US table tennis team's visit to China. After the
file was sent away, it was already past 11 o'clock in the evening. After Mao Zedong took sleeping pills, he asked his head health nurse Wu Xujun to read him the "Big Reference" ("reference material" for central government officials to read). Mao Zedong was already drowsy, but when he heard foreign reports on the interaction between Zhuang Zedong and Cohen on the shuttle bus, he suddenly started to speak.
Wu Xujun listened for a while before he heard the main idea: "Call...the American team...visit China!"
At that time, Mao Zedong himself stipulated that words spoken after taking sleeping pills did not count. Wu Xujun knew that Mao Zedong had just read the report not inviting the American team to visit China, so she did not dare to move.
Seeing that Wu Xujun made no move, Mao Zedong sounded a little angry: "Xiao Wu, why don't you do it?"
Wu Xujun said that he didn't hear clearly. Mao Zedong said it again, word for word, intermittently. After hearing clearly, Wu Xujun was still worried and asked again: "Chairman, do what you said after taking sleeping pills count?"
Mao Zedong became anxious, waved his hand and said: "Forget it! Do it quickly, it's too late!"
6 ˆ
On the morning of April 10, 1971, at the Luohu Port in Shenzhen, Glenn Cohen looked around excitedly.
The notice of the Chinese delegation’s invitation to visit China was sent to the US team on April 7, and the whole team was excited.The head of the delegation was away at the time, and Harrison, the deputy head of the delegation, immediately called the U.S. Embassy in Japan to inform him of the invitation and requested that the words "Mainland China" that would cause disputes be removed from the passport. The U.S. Ambassador to Japan happened to be away at the time. After the first secretary on duty, William Cunningham, got the news, considering that the U.S. team was supposed to return to the country on April 8, he immediately reported it to the White House and strongly supported the U.S. team. team visits China.
The route for the US team's visit to China was quickly determined: fly from Japan to Hong Kong, take a train from Hong Kong to Shenzhen to Guangzhou, and fly from Guangzhou to Beijing. As the "hero" who got the U.S. team invited to visit China, Cohen was of course selected to be included in the delegation list.
Cohen was 19 at the time, a sophomore in the political science department at Santa Monica City College in Los Angeles, and had loved playing table tennis since he was a kid. However, like many of his teammates, he actually came to participate in the 31st World Table Tennis Championships at his own expense—the United States Table Tennis Association only conducts selections and does not provide travel expenses.
But this is enough to satisfy Cohen, because his own ideal is to travel to countries around the world to broaden his horizons, but he did not expect to be able to visit the mysterious China this time. So Cohen couldn't understand at the time that there were still people in the US team who were unwilling to go to China - a member of the South Korean team at the time made it clear that he was unwilling to go (later this player publicly stated that this was the decision he regretted most in his life) ).
After the American team arrived in Beijing, they stayed at the Xinqiao Hotel. What Cohen didn't know was that every trip he and his teammates made in China was personally arranged by Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. On the first day in Beijing, the American team was arranged to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Then they visited Tsinghua University, toured the Great Wall, and watched the ballet "The Red Detachment of Women."
Cohen was deeply impressed by the novel sights of China: the clean and tidy streets, the endless stream of bicycles, the almost unstyled clothing of men and women, and the portraits of Mao Zedong erected everywhere...
April 13, at the Capital Gymnasium , a friendly table tennis match between China and the United States kicked off. Considering that the level of American players is still relatively low, China specially arranged a mixed pairing of Chinese and American doubles to ensure that the level of both sides is close.
On the afternoon of April 14, Zhou Enlai received table tennis delegations from the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Colombia and Nigeria in the East Hall of the Great Hall of the People. Although delegations from other countries also received the same reception, everyone knew in their hearts that the American team was the protagonist this time.
When Zhou Enlai was talking to the American team, he quoted the sentence "It is a joy to have friends come from afar" and said: "The people of China and the United States used to have frequent exchanges, but they have been interrupted for a long time. , your invitation to visit this time has opened the door to friendly exchanges between the people of the two countries. We believe that the friendly exchanges between the people of China and the United States will be approved and supported by the majority of the people of the two countries."
When the US table tennis team visited China. The United States held a friendly match
. Steenhoven, the leader of the American delegation, was actually worried about Cohen before arriving, because Cohen was influenced by the domestic culture of the United States at that time and was a standard "hippie": growing his hair long and wearing bell-bottom pants. Even when playing with Chinese players, they are not at ease: they tie up their hair with a red rope, put their feet up on the table to tie their shoelaces, and when they hear the music of " Sailing the Sea Depends on the Helmsman ", they will do a disco pose Dance along.
As a result, what worried Steenhoven still happened - Cohen suddenly asked Zhou Enlai: "What do you think of hippies?"
Zhou Enlai's answer was: "Now the world's youth are somewhat dissatisfied with the status quo and want to seek the truth. Youth Thoughts It will appear in various forms when it fluctuates. But all forms of expression are not necessarily mature or fixed. According to human development, a universal truth will eventually be recognized by people, just like any law of nature. It is a good thing that young people all have this requirement for discussion. But one thing is to find the commonality of most people, which can enable the majority of human beings to develop, make progress, and achieve success. happiness."
Zhou Enlai's speech and photos of meeting the American team were both published in American newspapers.
The most surprised person was actually Cohen's mother. For this reason, she specially asked someone to send Zhou Enlai a bouquet of flowers.
7
Of course, neither Cohen, nor Zhuang Zedong, Song Zhong, and Goto Kaji would have imagined how this "ping pong diplomacy" would turn out.
Steenhoven was at the scene where Zhou Enlai met with the American table tennis team. An invitation was sent to the Chinese table tennis team to visit the United States, and Zhou Enlai agreed on the spot.
Less than 10 hours after the meeting, U.S. President Nixon issued a statement announcing the import and export of currency, oil, and cargo transportation. Waiting for all parties to lift the ban on China.
Just three months after the meeting, President Nixon's special envoy Kissinger flew to Beijing secretly from Islamabad and met with the Chinese leaders.
Just after the meeting. 10 months ago, US President Nixon officially visited China. The decades-old ice between China and the United States was once broken.
Steamed Bun said
For the entire world pattern in the 20th century, this was definitely a breakthrough in Sino-US relations. A big event.
The reasons for this big event are the changes in the overall international situation and the judgment and grasp of the future situation by the leaders of China and the United States. "Ping Pong Diplomacy" can be regarded as a "handling point" in this. In the major incident, Kaji Goto, Song Zhong, Cohen, Zhuang Zedong, including Steenhoven and Cunningham, were all involved. They each played different roles and played different roles. More or less, they may realize that they are participating in something extraordinary, but they may not have expected that the impact of this event will be so far-reaching, not to mention them, even figures at the level of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Nixon. It may not be possible to fully understand the direction of things at that time.
So sometimes history is really interesting: a historical event is composed of time, place, cause, process, and result. Reading it from beginning to end is a kind of feeling. And if you look at it again from the perspective of everyone involved in this incident, it will be a new feeling.
History is indeed composed of years, numbers, and events, but behind all this. , are people of flesh and blood. As individuals, they are like each holding a piece of a puzzle, and the pieces are put together to form a complete historical event.
When we look back now, we can see the successes and failures of our predecessors. The gains and losses were clear at a glance, but at that time, they did not know clearly what they would choose, and they did not necessarily realize how their choices would affect the future direction of the event. Of course, they did not know that a group of people were participating in this event at the same time. Events, everyone interacts and cross-influences.
In the present, looking at the past and predicting the future may be the charm of reading history.
This article is compiled from " The Temperature of History 5: Those Games, Contests and Human Nature" written by Zhang Wei (Steamed Bun Master)
The Temperature of History Set (five volumes)
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From grand narrative to historical details , looking for the true story of the times. When history is turbulent, how do influential figures change the times, or are they changed by the times?
Each short historical story tells the past time outside the textbook. After reading more allusions, you will gain more knowledge and become an interesting and knowledgeable person.
breaks away from the grand narrative of conventional history and goes into details, looking for the true stories of the times and telling the characters and events that we don't know about. It is full of rich historical knowledge. After reading it, you will have more allusions, gain more knowledge, and become an interesting and knowledgeable person. is recommended by Professor Yan Feng, doctoral supervisor of Fudan University, Professor Ma Yong of the Academy of Social Sciences, Liushen Leilei, Zhang Wei, Xu Danai, etc.
This set contains the following volumes:
"The Temperature of History: Looking for the stories, passion and true temperament behind history"
"The Temperature of History 2: Stories, hesitations and beliefs in the details"
"The Temperature of History 3: The times are blowing in front of you" Come, history will be made in an instant"
"The Temperature of History 4: Those obsessions and beliefs, ideals and dreams"
"The Temperature of History 5: Those games, contests and human nature"
