Players from both countries will engage in mixed doubles competition to mark a milestone in sporting and diplomatic history at the World Table Tennis Championships in Houston this week.
Fifty years ago, Chinese leader Mao Zedong invited the American table tennis team to China. This was followed by a series of friendly matches that helped break the ice before Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s crucial and secret visit to China months later—which led to President Richard Nixon’s inauguration for the then-inclusive veteran, and eventually put it on the way it is today. kept. Rising superpower status.
If ever there was a need for a new Harmony breakthrough, it is now. US-China relations are at their lowest level since China reopened to the world, with disputes over Taiwan, human rights, the persecution of Uighur Muslims and Beijing’s military build-up.
That’s a lot to fix some rubber pedals and some bouncing plastic balls. But ping-pong has worked before.
The two pairings will try to bridge the geopolitical divide in Texas: Lin Gaoyuan of China will team up with Lily Zhang of the United States, while Kanak Zha of America will play with Wang Manyu of China.
“These athletes, who are friends of each other, can work together in the competition, so that fans from both countries can cheer them up, opening a new chapter of ping pong diplomacy in this new era,” Liu said.
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