The United States table tennis team was competing in the World Table Tennis Championship in Nagoya, Japan in 1971 when they got an offer out of the blue to fly to China and play a match against the Chinese team. This event, despite the fact that it may seem to be rather little in nature, was in reality highly momentous since, ever since the Communist takeover of China in 1949, no group of Americans had been invited to visit China (H. Filowski, 2014). This event was a sign that the times were changing; the Chinese believed that by inviting Americans into their country, they could send a message to their many hostile neighbours that there was a shift occurring in their ideals, policies, and alliances. This event was a sign that the times were changing. Not too long after the journey of the United States table tennis team, President Richard Nixon instructed Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to make covert preparations for a visit by the President of the United States to China. Seven months later, in February of 1972, President Nixon made history by becoming the first American president to visit China (Ping-Pong Diplomacy | American Experience | PBS, 2022). He did this by becoming the first American president to visit China. The trip to China made by the United States table tennis team not only led to a historic visit by our president, but it also resulted in China extending an invitation to American journalists to visit China and in the United States lifting an embargo that had been in place against China for the previous twenty years (Eckstein, 2011). A seemingly little action, such as asking a ping-pong team to compete in your nation, may have a significant impact as these recent occurrences have shown. It was even reported that Chinese Prime Minister Chou Enlai said something to the effect of “never before in history has a sport been utilized so successfully as an instrument of world diplomacy (Eckstein, 2011).”
This article seems to converge around one central idea that discusses the true role that sport plays in our lives and in our society: that of a tool. It is becoming more and more apparent that the role that sport really fills in each of our lives and in our society as a whole is as a platform, a means for achieving an end. This realization is coming about as a result of the specific topics that we are concentrating on and the lessons that we are learning (Eckstein, 2011). Given this information, it is not difficult to see members of a community having a strong feeling of identification with the sports groups in which they participate, which in turn helps to foster a sense of togetherness within that community. It is possible for the acts of sporting organizations to pave the way for others and, in the end, mould the mentality of the communities that they serve as a result of the high level of involvement that individuals have with the sports organizations in which they participate. Ping-pong diplomacy occurred in 1971-1972 and precisely replicated what we saw happen in 1971-1972; the activities of two sports teams finally signalled a shifting of the mentality of two governments. This action, combined with the support of extremely influential politicians such as the President of the United States, demonstrates not only how significant an association politics and sports can have, but, more importantly, how significant a difference it is possible for the two to make when combined. Nixon immediately seized on the new mood of collaboration by using sport as a springboard for his own eventual visit to the People’s Republic (H. Filowski, 2014). This visit took place after the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. In this manner, the President of the United States acknowledged that sport had the potential to be a useful political resource. This really exemplifies not just the significance of this event to the whole globe, but also the role that athletics plays in our culture (Jung, 2017). In this particular instance, sport served as a valuable political resource. In other contexts, sport provides a stage upon which to instruct children in lessons that will serve them for the rest of their lives. In still other contexts, sport provides a stage upon which to express opinions and bring national attention to injustices that exist in our nation. In all honesty, sport is a multifunctional instrument that can be used on a national scale and has an almost unfathomably wide reach (Jung, 2017).
Reference
Eckstein, R., 2011. Ping Pong Diplomacy: A View from behind the Scenes. Journal of American-East Asian Relations, 2(3), pp.327-342.
H. Filowski, R., 2014. Ping-pong diplomacy: the secret history behind the game that changed the world. Choice Reviews Online, 52(03), pp.52-1552-52-1552.
Jung, G., 2017. A Revisit to Ping-Pong Diplomacy : Implications on Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games. Journal of international area studies, 21(4), pp.155-184.
Pbs.org. 2022. Ping-Pong Diplomacy | American Experience | PBS. [online] Available at: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/china-ping-pong/#:~:text=Time%20magazine%20called%20it%20%22The,the%20Communist%20takeover%20in%201949 [Accessed 22 July 2022].
