Heart-to-heart|Relive the "icebreaker journey" and continue to write "Ping Pong Friendship"

  WASHINGTON/BEIJING, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Revisiting the "Ice-Breaking Journey" and Continuing the "Ping Pong Friendship"

  Xinhua News Agency reporters Deng Xianlai, Qiao Jihong, Wei Mengjia

  On April 10, 1971, American table tennis player Connie Swillis was both excited and nervous when she walked from Hong Kong into Chinese mainland. As she walked, she snapped a picture with her camera, which was a little blurry because her hand was shaking when she pressed the shutter. She treasures this photo to this day.

  At that time, at the invitation of the Chinese government, a 15-member U.S. table tennis delegation consisting of Connie and others visited China. Since this historic visit, the small ping-pong ball has opened the door to renewed exchanges between China and the United States, and opened a diplomatic story of "a small ball turning a big ball".

  Today, the younger generation is "meeting friends with balls" across the Pacific, reliving the "ice-breaking journey", and continuing to write a new chapter of "table tennis friendship" between the Chinese and American people for more than half a century.

  An icebreaker trip that is "exciting and nervous".

  In November 2023, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at a welcome banquet jointly hosted by American friendship groups in San Francisco, USA, referring to the ice-breaking journey of "ping-pong diplomacy" in 1971 and pointing out that "it is the trend of the times that brings us to each other, it is the common interests that allow China and the United States to transcend differences, and it is the people's desire that allows the two countries to break the ice."

  "I remember when we heard the news that we were invited to visit China, I was really excited and a little nervous. Connie recalled in an exclusive interview with reporters at her home in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

  At that time, the 23-year-old Connie participated in the 31st World Table Tennis Championships with the U.S. table tennis delegation in Nagoya, Japan. During this period, American athlete Glenn Cohen mistakenly took the bus of the Chinese team, and the Chinese table tennis star Zhuang Zedong interacted with him in a friendly manner. This unexpected contact between the two sides immediately attracted the attention of the outside world. After that, the Chinese leader made a decision, and the Chinese side officially invited the US table tennis delegation to visit China.

  Connie said that the passport she used to visit China is still preserved by the National Museum of Diplomacy. In those days, in the passports of American citizens, China was listed as one of the countries that could not be visited. In a special case, U.S. officials "used a black marker to erase 'China' [from the list of inaccessible countries]." It seems to be a light "stroke", but it is an important hurdle that the US table tennis delegation must pass through on its "ice-breaking journey".

  During the visit of the U.S. table tennis delegation to China, athletes from both sides held an exhibition match. Connie told reporters that the Chinese team is far superior to the American team, "they could have easily beaten us with two or three goals." However, in the face of 18,000 spectators at the Capital Gymnasium, the Chinese team adhered to the spirit of "friendship first, competition second", and played back and forth with the American team, and the skills of both sides were fully displayed.

  Connie also recalled a special detail: Premier Zhou Enlai asked the US table tennis delegation if there was anything unsatisfactory, and the head of the US delegation immediately replied "yes", and everyone was taken aback, only to hear the head of the US delegation continue to say, "You have given us too much delicious food", and everyone laughed.

  On April 17, 1971, Connie and her entourage ended their visit to China, bringing back to the United States the sincere friendship of the Chinese people.

  In February 1972, then US President Richard Nixon visited China, officially starting the process of normalizing Sino-US relations. In April of the same year, the Chinese table tennis delegation was invited to visit the United States and was received by Nixon at the White House.

  Connie's husband, Dale Swillis, is also a table tennis player for the U.S. national team and participated in the reception of the Chinese table tennis delegation to the United States. He recalled that at that time, athletes from the two countries flew on the same plane, stayed in the same hotel, competed in table tennis skills and tactics, and attended various events, "They had the opportunity to fully understand what the United States is like, and we both had a great time on and off the court, and gained common memories."

  Bai Lijuan, vice president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, was also one of the members of the US side that year. "It was a good time, there was a lot of enthusiasm on both sides," she recalled to reporters. ”

  At the beginning of the "ping-pong diplomacy" between China and the United States, face-to-face exchanges have deepened the understanding of the Chinese and American peoples and narrowed the spiritual distance.

  A youthful friendship that "has nothing to do with winning or losing".

  Members of the table tennis delegation from the University of Virginia pose for a group photo on the Badaling Great Wall in Beijing on January 7, 2024. The composition of the photograph is almost identical to the photo taken by Connie and her entourage on the Great Wall during their visit to China 53 years ago.

  "We climbed the Great Wall and took group photos like them to relive history in this way. Lu Jie, a senior at the University of Virginia's business school and president of the school's table tennis club, said.

  Stephen Marr, vice provost for global affairs at the University of Virginia, said that "ping-pong diplomacy" is a "critical moment" in the history of the development of U.S.-China relations, and hopes to take the opportunity of this visit to China to allow young people to "fully relive" the journey of "ping-pong diplomacy" in 1971. "It's important for every student who cares about U.S.-China relations to go back in time. He said.

  The table tennis delegation from the University of Virginia visited Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai to meet friends with students from Tsinghua University, Fudan University and Shanghai Sport University.

  At Tsinghua University, students from the two universities are mixed and paired for doubles matches. In Marr's view, this form of "not winning or losing, only for friendship" is a tribute to and inheritance of the spirit of "ping-pong diplomacy" and the friendship between the people of the United States and China.

  "This kind of friendly match emphasizes the exchange and cooperation between each other. Yu Hongbo, a fourth-year student at Tsinghua University, participated in the table tennis competition. He said that the young people of the two countries exchanged skills and understanding of sportsmanship on the field, and exchanged their views on their university life and various issues outside the stadium, "and we got to know each other better."

  The warmth and friendliness of Chinese friends are unforgettable for teachers and students in American colleges and universities. Marr said that the laughter and laughter of the Chinese students during his time in China and the enthusiasm of the Chinese students to promote friendship between the two countries are "firmly engraved in our hearts."

  Shortly before the visit of the University of Virginia table tennis delegation to China, the Peking University table tennis team was invited to visit Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other places, and participated in the US Open Table Tennis Tournament and a series of commemorative activities of "table tennis diplomacy" between China and the United States.

  "When I was playing in Los Angeles, my right hand was bleeding and the American crowd kept cheering me on and an American player was all over the stadium helping me get medicine. Gong Mingze, a member of the Peking University table tennis team, said, "After I won the game with an injury, many American spectators cheered for me and came to high-five me after the game, which made me feel very warm." ”

  After the San Francisco game, Dell stepped forward and put his arm around Gong's shoulders and praised him for "playing exceptionally well". Gong Mingze raised his mobile phone, and several Chinese young people took selfies with Dale and Connie.

  The cross-Pacific handshake again and again, sports is one of the common languages of each other, and warmth and enthusiasm are the deep impressions of each other. "Friendship first, competition second" has become a vivid picture today from the freeze frame of the historical moment.

  Let the story of "ping-pong diplomacy" be passed on

  In December 2023, at the Ontario Convention Center in California, USA, hundreds of table tennis tables were lined up, and the US Open Table Tennis Championships were in full swing.

  Liu Wei, coach of the Peking University table tennis team and former world champion, led the team to participate in the competition. In 2006, she visited the United States as a member of the Peking University table tennis delegation and participated in the 35th anniversary of the "table tennis diplomacy" between China and the United States. Recently, in an interview with reporters in Beijing, she said that her intuitive feeling is that after more than ten years, there are more and more teenagers playing table tennis in the United States, and more and more people can speak Chinese.

  Connie and Dale also participated in the event. "Table tennis is a bridge for people from different communities to understand each other and the world, and I fully agree with that. Dale said that through table tennis, he not only met the older generation of Chinese national players, but also became friends with Liu Wei and others, and looked forward to more continuous mutual visits between universities between China and the United States, so that the historical legacy of "table tennis diplomacy" will be passed on from generation to generation.

  Whether it is replying to "old friends" of the United States or delivering speeches to friendly people in the United States, President Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that the future of China-US relations lies with the youth. On March 27 this year, President Xi Jinping pointed out in a group meeting with representatives of the U.S. business community and strategic academic circles in Beijing that the history of China-US relations is a history of friendly exchanges between the two peoples, which was written by the people in the past and created by the people in the future.

  In the interaction with students from the University of Virginia, Tao Chang, a student from Tsinghua University, deepened his understanding of the history of "ping pong diplomacy", and believed that seeking common ground while reserving differences and mutual benefit and win-win results are the wisdom contained in "ping pong friendship", "The significance of Sino-US exchanges lies not only in how much we have in common, but also in the fact that we can communicate and run in on differences."

  Lijuan Bai, who has been working on U.S.-China relations for half a century, said: "It's more important than ever to regain the meaning of people-to-people exchanges. ”

  Jing Quan, Minister of the Chinese Embassy in the United States, believes that sports have always been one of the bridges and ties between the people of China and the United States, and "I believe that more stories of friendly people-to-people exchanges will emerge between China and the United States."

  Connie, who is in her late teens, said emotionally that she and her husband will devote their lives to deepening Americans' understanding of "ping-pong diplomacy" and pushing the younger generation to continue to write a new story of "ping-pong friendship." She expressed the hope that the United States and China can "show courage" and continue to promote exchanges in various fields "without hesitation", and "as long as exchanges are maintained, obstacles can be removed." (Participating reporters: Xu Yuan, Hu Yousong, Ma Xiaodong, Huang Heng)