Author: Jiang Peizhu Source: "Diplomats Say Things"
About the Author
Jiang Peizhu was born in Pingdu, Shandong Province in 1937, and went to Dalian and Jilin with his father at an early age; he was admitted to the English Department of Beijing University of Foreign Affairs and Chinese in September 1956, and entered the Department of Oriental Languages of Peking University in September 1958 to study Japanese; after graduating in 1962, he was selected to work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and successively worked in the translation team of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Liaison Office of the Sino-Japanese Memorandum of Understanding and Trade Office in Tokyo, the Chinese Embassy in Japan, the Japanese Division and the General Office of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and since 1991, he has been in the Chinese Embassy in Iran, Thailand, He retired in 2000 as the first secretary, chief librarian, and director of the research office of the Korean embassies, and participated in the compilation of Sun Pinghua's "Caprice of Sino-Japanese Friendship", "Biography of Zhang Hanfu", and Huang Hua's "Personal Experience and Experience".
In March 1971, the 31st World Table Tennis Championships were held in Nagoya, Japan. Kaji Goto, chairman of the Organizing Committee of the World Table Tennis Championships and chairman of the Japan Table Tennis Association, sent a formal invitation to the mainland.
Since the "Cultural Revolution" had been cut off from the world sports world for many years, the mainland sports circles asked the central authorities for instructions on whether or not to send teams to participate.
Ryoji Toh (right)
The report was finally sent to Chairman Mao, who made an important instruction: "Our team should go, one is not afraid of hardship, the other is not afraid of death, prepare to die a few, it is better not to die." "Everyone was very happy to learn that they were competing to spread the news.
The Chinese delegation to the 31st World Table Tennis Championships took a flight to Nagoya
In view of the fact that this was the first time since the "Cultural Revolution" that the mainland had sent a delegation abroad to compete in the competition, and at a critical moment for the mainland to readjust and improve and strengthen relations with foreign countries, the State Sports Commission and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed and submitted to the Central Committee for approval to form a large delegation of more than 60 athletes, coaches, and foreign affairs personnel. Zhao Zhenghong of the State Sports Commission served as the head of the delegation, Wang Xiaoyun, who had been in charge of foreign affairs with Japan for many years, served as the deputy head of the delegation, and Song Zhong served as the secretary general. Several cadres of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China-Japan Friendship Association also accompanied the delegation as secretaries and interpreters.
On the afternoon of March 28, 1971, the opening ceremony of the 31st World Table Tennis Championships was held at the "Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium" in Nagoya, Japan. The picture shows Chinese table tennis players entering the playing field.
Under the guidance of "friendship first, competition second" and the principle of promoting Sino-Japanese friendship, our delegation has been proactive and has worked hard to achieve excellent results. The athletes dared to fight hard in the competition, and had a good performance in terms of technique and spirit, and won three championships in women's team, women's singles and men's doubles, and four runners-up in men's team, women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.
On April 30, 1971, the Chinese table tennis delegation visited Japan and took a group photo.
Wang Xiaoyun, deputy head of the delegation, and other foreign affairs workers took advantage of the big stage of the competition to actively carry out their work, and had extensive and frequent contacts with various Japanese political parties, organizations, and friends from all walks of life, cheering for Sino-Japanese friendship and running for the improvement of relations between the two countries, thus opening the curtain of "ping-pong diplomacy." The Japanese media unanimously said that a strong "king whirlwind" has been blown in Japan, setting off an unprecedented "Japan-China fever".
The Chinese men's team took a group photo after winning the 31st World Table Tennis Championships.
It is particularly worth mentioning that it was during this World Table Tennis Championships that our delegation officially extended an invitation to the US table tennis delegation to visit China. Chairman Mao's far-sighted strategic decision, with "a small ball turning a big ball", not only opened the door to exchanges between China and the United States, which had been in a state of hostility and isolation for a long time, but also won the world.
Originally, the invitation plan approved by the central authorities did not include the United States, and "if the US team requests to visit China, it can be politely declined." However, on the evening of 6 April, a directive came from China via coded telephone: "In order to enhance the friendship between the athletes and peoples of China and the United States, the US table tennis team is officially invited to visit China after the 31st World Table Tennis Championships." ”
I translated it from the "soil code" I had brought with me, a "Sino-Japanese Dictionary", and hurriedly reported it to the leaders of the delegation.
On the afternoon of April 7, the game was still in the lobby of the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. The audience cheered and applauded for the players' superb skills, and the applause was thunderous. At this moment, the living room on the basement floor of the gymnasium is also "listening to thunder in a silent place".
Song Zhong, secretary general of the Chinese delegation, urgently met with Harrison, head of the US table tennis delegation, and conveyed to him an invitation for the US table tennis team to visit China. Harrison was very excited, thanked the Chinese side for the invitation, and promised to report back to China immediately. He said he believed that the whole United States would be happy.
On April 13, 1971, the All-China Sports Federation held a welcoming ceremony to welcome the American table tennis delegation to China.
As a result, a delegation headed by Graham Stinhoven, president of the United States Table Tennis Association, flew to Beijing on April 10 for an official visit. The U.S. delegation included table tennis association officials such as Harrison and Tim Bogan, as well as table tennis player Glenn Cohen, who had contact with Chinese athletes in Nagoya.
Premier Zhou Enlai had cordial talks with the US table tennis delegation.
Their visit was a success and they were cordially met by Premier Zhou Enlai. Premier Zhou said: "Your invitation to visit has opened the door to friendly exchanges between the two peoples. Under the conditions of visiting Japan at that time, such classified information, including the invitation of the US delegation to China, was transmitted through the "Turkish code" telephone.
Before this visit, we agreed that the name of the front and rear telephone windows would be "Chen Dongxin", and the latest edition of the "Sino-Japanese Dictionary" in Japan in the 70s of the 20th century would be used as a temporary password book. I took one with me to Japan with the delegation, and I kept one with the Japan Section of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Instructions and reports that are top secret and confidential are all transmitted over the telephone through a "local code", and the words of the confidential content are conveyed over the telephone with the page number, left and right sides, and line order of the dictionary plus fixed numbers.
Therefore, my phone calls to "Chen Dongxin" and "Dongxin's calls" are often mixed with a lot of Arabic numerals, which need to be "translated" to understand. This is probably the most primitive and difficult to decipher coded communication.
[Source: "A Different Kind of Wind and Rain"
Author: Jiang Peizhu
Editor: "Diplomats Say Things" Fengfeng]