[Text/Observer Network Li Li] Recently, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang "teleballed" for the Cardinals (one of the traditional American baseball teams), which attracted the attention of US Ambassador to China Burns, who is a "baseball fan".
htmlOn September 20, Burns congratulated Qin Gang on Twitter for his successful "telephone", and hoped that Qin Gang would also support his favorite "Red Sox"., based on "ball", the two ambassadors had friendly interactions on Twitter for the first time.
On September 15, Qin Gang came to the Cardinals home court. Photo from the website of the Embassy in the United States
On September 15th local time, Qin Gang came to St. Louis, the hometown of baseball , attended the 43rd anniversary of the St. Louis-Nanjing Sisters Friendship City, and ignited the climax of the Cardinals' home court.
Nanjing and St. Louis were the first pair of sister cities formed by the two countries after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States in 1979. It has been 43 years since then and has important diplomatic significance. Qin Gang wore the No. 43 uniform at the "telephone" scene, which symbolized the 43rd anniversary of the establishment of a friendly city.
"telephone" is an important part of baseball game, and it adds a grand sense of ritual to baseball game. Home teams usually invite guests such as politicians, celebrities or retired players to pitch to kick off the game and increase attention.
picture from the website of the Embassy in the United States
. Under the live broadcast of the live screen and the gaze of more than 40,000 fans, Ambassador Qin walked towards the bowler position, stood firm, raised his hand, turned around, and threw the baseball towards the Cardinals home catcher on the opposite side, which attracted warm applause from the audience.
After the event that day, Qin Gang posted on his Twitter, "As a teeing guest, I shot the first ball in the baseball game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the establishment of the first Sino-US friendly city in Nanjing and St. Louis. At the same time, the first pair of baseball players statues in the two cities were unveiled," and attached his own photos.
Qin Gang’s Twitter screenshot (screenshot is Beijing time)
Qin Gang’s tweet made Burns, the US ambassador to China, unable to sit still, as a "baseball fan".
Burns does not support the "Cardinals". According to the website of the US Embassy in China, Burns's profile says that he enthusiastically supports the "Red Sox Professional Baseball Team" (one of the traditional American baseball teams).
htmlOn September 20, Burns retweeted Qin Gang's tweet on social media, writing "Congratulations to my colleague Ambassador Qin Gang for his first goal in St. Louis - a great tradition in the United States.""Now I hope he can publicly announce his support for Boston (Red Sox)", Burns publicly wooed Qin Gang into the Red Sox's "fan group". Now, other netizens who are "baseball fans" can't stand it...
"Well said that, except for the 'Red Sox' part."
"One of your problems is that there are too many unreasonable expectations."
"Mr. Ambassador, you have asked for too much. Even if I am a fan of the Red Sox, I can't ask anyone to support the Red Sox. In fact, because of Hemingway 's "Old Man and the Sea", there are many people in the world who know the Yankees than those who know the Red Sox." ( New York Yankees , one of the traditional American baseball teams. The book "Old Man and the Sea" reads: "The Yankees cannot lose the Yankees")
Some netizens also made a fuss, "Qin Gang may consider supporting the great Chicago Cubs (one of the traditional American baseball strong teams)."
At the same time, some netizens extended the interaction between the Chinese and US ambassadors to the relationship between the two countries, saying, "More similar activities will help improve the relationship between the two countries. There will be no result in accusations."
On September 21, Qin Gang replied to Burns on Twitter, saying, "I understand you, Burns! Looking forward to going to Fenway Stadium (the most popular baseball stadium in the United States) with you to watch the Red Sox game."
Flip through the Twitter of the two Chinese and American ambassadors and found that this is the first time that the two have had a friendly interaction on Twitter because of baseball culture.
Baseball has been promoting dialogue and exchanges between the two countries for many years. Outside the Cardinals’ stadium, there is a statue of special significance.
Qin Gang unveiled the commemorative statue of the friendly city of St. Louis on the 15th. Photo from the website of the Embassy in the United States
This statue is a Chinese batsman wearing a baseball cap with a word "Nanjing" and is preparing to welcome the pitching of the Nanjing bowler statue thousands of miles away.
In 2019, St. Louis once presented a sculpture of a baseball player pitching to Nanjing. The sculpture is placed in Nanjing International Friendship Park, and is pitching in the direction of St. Louis, as the 40th anniversary of the two cities' friendship.
Sculpture of baseball player pitching. The picture is from the website of the Embassy in the United States
The prototype of the sculpture is Adam Wainwright, a well-known baseball player of the Cardinals.
Adam Wainwright. The profile picture is from social media
Nowadays, this batsman statue outside the Cardinals baseball stadium is in the same group as the bowler statue presented to Nanjing that year. This set of statues carries the good wishes of the people of the two cities and reflects the sincere friendship between the people of the two countries.
On the day of the September 15th event, Ambassador Qin said that over the past few decades, the relationship between China and the United States has linked the people of the two countries more closely together, and deepened their understanding and friendship through close exchanges. St. Louis-Nanjing Sister City has set an example in this regard. I hope that St. Louis will give full play to its unique advantages and become the gateway for the local American people to China, and continuously enhance exchanges and cooperation with China in various fields such as economy, trade, education, culture, and humanities, especially to allow more exchanges among young people such as international students from the two countries, so that the friendship between China and the United States will be revitalized.
This article is an exclusive article of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-