What was ping pong diplomacy

It was the largest fire in American history. It took a virtual war between China and the Soviet Union for Washington to realize how deeply divided the Communist superpowers actually were -- and how that division might be played to America's advantage. With the defeat of Japan by Allied troops in , fighting between the Communists and Nationalists flared once more, and soon China was engulfed in a bloody, all-out civil war.

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Nixon's China Game Article Sino-Soviet Border Disputes It took a virtual war between China and the Soviet Union for Washington to realize how deeply divided the Communist superpowers actually were -- and how that division might be played to America's advantage. Nixon had written: "We simply cannot afford to leave China outside the family of nations. Soon after the U. Nixon's journey seven months later, in February , would become one of the most important events in U.

For Nixon, it was "the week that changed the world. In February , President George W. When he and Kissinger opened a highly secretive backchannel to Mao and Zhou in , they avoided using the White House letterhead for fear that Beijing would leak their correspondence.

Mao personally approved the invitation of the US table tennis players, overruling those in his Foreign Ministry, and even Zhou, who urged caution. Like Nixon, Mao was open to diplomatic talks. He sought a rapprochement with the US, partly in order to deter an invasion of China by the Soviet Union, seemingly an imminent possibility after major Sino-Soviet border clashes in The president personally endorsed the State Department giving the US team permission to travel to China from Japan, but only on the condition that the US government would have no further involvement in the trip.

Beijing had been divided over whether to send their team to Japan, with hesitancy from both the players and the foreign ministry overcome by direct orders from Zhou and Mao. One reason behind the trepidation was fear: Chinese officials correctly predicted that the PRC athletes would face fierce anti-communist protestors in Japan.

One important moment at the Championships did, however, occur by chance. American and Chinese players and officials had already conversed on the sidelines of the games in Japan. An awkward silence was broken by the Chinese team captain Zhuang Zedong.

Perhaps Zhuang had brought the gift to Japan to give to an American; perhaps it was just one of the tokens the Chinese carried for friendly interactions with rival teams. In any case, the interaction was a surprise to Mao back in Beijing. The Americans were not the only team to get such an invite.