{"id":30854,"date":"2009-01-07T22:42:07","date_gmt":"2009-01-08T05:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=30854"},"modified":"2009-01-08T11:40:25","modified_gmt":"2009-01-08T18:40:25","slug":"ping-pong-match-commemorates-ping-pong-diplomacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2009\/01\/ping-pong-match-commemorates-ping-pong-diplomacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ping Pong Match Commemorates Ping Pong Diplomacy"},"content":{"rendered":"
Today marks 30 years since a ping-pong tournament broke the ice between the U.S. and China, paving the way to diplomatic relations. The occasion was marked in Beijing with a rematch. From the Foreign Policy blog<\/a>:<\/p>\n <\/a> [Photo from Foreign Policy blog]<\/p>\n In April 1971, China invited the U.S. table-tennis team to visit in what Time magazine called “the ping heard round the world.” One of the Americans was then 15-year-old Judy Bochenski Hoarfrost, right, who returned today to play veteran Chinese player Qi Baoxiang, left. The 1971 visit launched an era of “Ping-Pong diplomacy,” and according to Time, “Probably never before in history has a sport been used so effectively as a tool of international diplomacy.” Obviously, with the 2008 Beijing Olympics, it hasn’t been the only time China has used sports to try to improve its image.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n See also reports from Xinhua<\/a> and VOA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today marks 30 years since a ping-pong tournament broke the ice between the U.S. and China, paving the way to diplomatic relations. The occasion was marked in Beijing with a rematch. From the Foreign Policy blog: [Photo from Foreign Policy blog] In April 1971, China invited the U.S. table-tennis team to visit in what Time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[6914,7702],"class_list":["post-30854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","tag-ping-pong-diplomacy","tag-us-relations","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n