The Power of Ping-Pong
Published May 8, 2023
By Andrew Adams
“Never before in history has a sport been used so effectively as a tool of international diplomacy.”
-Chinese Premier, Zhou Enlai, 1972
What does Ping-Pong have to do with geopolitical dynamics? Well, a lot. More than a singles and doubles event in the Summer Olympics since 1988, Ping-Pong has historically played a significant role in opening US-China relations. Ping-Pong epitomizes the power of sport as a catalyst for broader international dialogue and development.
In April 1971, a long-haired, Ping-Pong playing American named Glenn Cowan competing at the World Table Tennis Championship in Nagoya, Japan missed his ride after practice one day. Unable to board his American team bus, instead he was offered a seat in a nearby Chinese team vehicle. While aboard, the amiable Cowan shook his hand with competitor Zhuang Zedong of the Chinese Ping-Pong team and the two quickly formed a warm connection- evidenced by Cowan receiving a decorative silk cloth as a token of friendship. With an interpreter on hand, Zhuang told the 19-year-old Cowan from Santa Monica College, “Although the U.S. government is unfriendly to China, the American people are friends of the Chinese. I give you this to mark the friendship from Chinese people to the American people.”[1] The next day, Cowan reciprocated by giving Zhuang Zedong a t-shirt with the words, “Let it Be” from the popular Beatles song and so the wheels were in motion for the beginnings of what would later be termed “Ping-Pong Diplomacy.”
Two days after the gift exchange, the U.S. Table Tennis team received an official invitation to travel to China and play exhibition matches against the Chinese team. Keen not to lose momentum, then President Nixon secretly sent Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to Peking (Beijing) to lay the groundwork for a formal Presidential visit. Nixon's trip to China seven months later, in February 1972, would become one of the most important events in recent U.S. history.
The Ping-Pong delegation initiated diplomatic relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. On January 1, 1979, diplomatic ties between the U.S. and China were formally established. Ping-Pong diplomacy also led to improved people-to-people understanding and cultural exchange between the two countries.[2] Soon thereafter a burgeoning foreign exchange began with Chinese college students matriculating in American institutions of learning. The typically diminutive sounds of Ping-Pong balls being hit back and forth, have geopolitically reverberated around the world.
The cultural exchange opportunities afforded by Chinese students in U.S. universities create incalculable benefits. U.S. China relations have gained with respect to eager Chinese students soaking in not only the expertise of American professors, but the experience of living in American culture. Likewise, American students can become friends with Chinese nationals and subsequently learn more about China and possibly dispel myths and prejudices they might have held. A growing number of American college students have participated in study abroad experiences in China. Peking and Tsinghua Universities in Beijing are just two of the many Chinese universities hosting American students that study the Chinese language and partake in specialized classes by Chinese professors. These cross-pollinating opportunities for university students between the two countries, despite historical contentions, help enable potentially transformative, long-run improved relations across the political, cultural, and economic spectrums.
Ping Pong Diplomacy is alive to this day. April 2021 began a 20-day celebration in Shanghai where the International Table Tennis Federation Museum hosted a friendly Ping- Pong match between American and Chinese players. Additionally, the Experior Table Tennis Club and the United States Association of Table Tennis (USATT) recently collaborated with the Chinese General Chamber of Congress-Chicago (CGCC). Together these organizations hosted the Ping-Pong Diplomacy Anniversary celebration in November 2022.[3] Hailed as the first Ping-Pong Diplomacy Tour in the Midwest, it consisted of six singles events (all sold out) with 122 competitors from 10 states. Ping-Pong continually brings people together not only for not only sport, but also as a means for genuine cultural interaction.
While China has won the lion’s share of medals in Olympic Ping-Pong matches, the biggest reward has been how the sport creates space for healthy competition, mutual respect, and stimulates opportunities for further cultural exchanges that can help minimize tensions when political relations strain. Game On!
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Andrew Adams is a current master’s student at the University of Southern California studying Public Diplomacy in the Annenberg School of Journalism and Communication. He has additional degrees in China Studies at the University of Washington and Social Studies Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to USC he taught English in China for several years. He can be reached at agadams@usc.edu.
[1] Mandira Banderjee, “Ping Pong Diplomacy: Celebrating Legacy Chance Encounter,” https://news.virginia.edu/content/ping-pong-diplomacy-celebrating-legacy-chance-encounter \
[2] “Ping Pong Diplomacy: Artifacts from the Historic 1971 U.S. Table Tennis Trip to China,” National Museum of American Diplomacy, August 5, 2021, https://diplomacy.state.gov/ping-pong-diplomacy-historic-1971-u-s-table-tennis-trip-to-china/
[3] Barbara Wei, November 10, 2022, “Ping Pong Diplomacy Breaks New Ground in Chicago,” https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Table-Tennis/News/2022/November/10/Ping-Pong-Diplomacy-Breaks-New-Ground-in-Chicago
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Pacific Council.
