Category: ping pong diplomacy

China-US Diplomacy Turns Aggressive

Commentary In the past half-century, China-U.S. diplomatic relations shifted from ping-pong to a more aggressive form of contact sport. Fifty years ago, on April 10, 1971, the U.S. table tennis team became the first group of Americans to set foot in China for a friendly match. This move led to the visit of then-President Richard…


Will Chinese Premier’s Soft Tone Work on the United States?

Commentary On April 13, Xinhua, the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) mouthpiece, reported that Li Keqiang, the CCP’s premier, had a video conversation with U.S. business leaders and made a rare appearance using a soft tone, amidst an impasse between the Chinese regime and the United States. The CCP’s top brass has no choice but to…


Ping Pong Diplomacy and the CCP’s Weaknesses

Commentary On April 10, Shanghai held an opening ceremony for a series of activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of ping-pong diplomacy, when the U.S. table tennis team visited Communist China for the first time in 1971. Due to the current stalemate in bilateral relations, this event came off as awkward. On the Chinese side, the…