On April 24, the Chinese Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the State General Administration of Sport and the China American People's Friendship Association jointly held a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Sino-US "ping-pong diplomacy" in Beijing. More than 400 people, including those who witnessed the "ping-pong diplomacy" between China and the United States, attended the commemoration through online and offline means.
Vice President Wang Qishan delivered a speech via video at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Sino-US "ping-pong diplomacy".
Wang Qishan pointed out that "ping-pong diplomacy" is a good story in the history of Sino-US relations. "Pushing the big ball with a small ball" has opened up a historic process of normalization of Sino-US relations. Over the past 50 years, although Sino-US relations have gone through ups and downs, they have generally continued to move forward, and cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful results, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples and promoting the prosperity and stability of the world.
Wang Qishan stressed: At present, Sino-US relations are at an important juncture. As the world's two largest economies and a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Sino-US cooperation is mutually beneficial and mutually injurious, and cooperation is the only correct choice for both sides. In accordance with the spirit of the Chinese New Year's Eve call between the two heads of state, the two sides should proceed from the well-being of the two peoples, draw inspiration and impetus from history, focus on cooperation, manage differences, promote exchanges and cooperation in various fields, promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations, and make greater contributions to jointly defeating the COVID-19 epidemic, promoting global economic recovery, and maintaining world peace and stability.
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and others delivered a video message.
With the theme of "friendship first, competition second" as the theme of sportsmanship, the commemorative activities warmly reproduced the historical story of Sino-US "table tennis diplomacy", showed the achievements of Sino-US sports and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in sports and people of people of wisdom in the past 50 years, showed the achievements of sino-US sports and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in sports and people's cultural exchanges and cooperation in the past 50 years, and once again appreciated the political wisdom and strategic foresight of the older generation of Leaders of China and the United States. It expressed the beautiful recollections of the friendship between China and the United States and the ardent expectations of people from all walks of life in the two countries and the resumption of friendly exchanges and cooperation in various fields.
Li Furong, a first-hand witness to Sino-US table tennis diplomacy, talked about Sino-US table tennis diplomacy, and the most profound impression was the scene of the visit to the United States, "We originally accepted the task of visiting the United States, and the premier met us at the Great Hall of the People and proposed 'friendship first, competition second', and our visit was for friendship. This expands the connotation of table tennis and expands the diplomatic route. We were very impressed by the warm welcome we received after going to the United States, the victory or defeat of the game is not important, the victory belongs to the Chinese people and the American people. Participating in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Sino-US table tennis diplomacy, Li Furong said of the significance of "commemoration": "Ping-pong diplomacy played a key role 50 years ago, opening the door of China and the United States, and table tennis diplomacy can continue to play a greater role 50 years later." ”
Liang Geliang, another historical witness, wore VR glasses at the event site and played a virtual table tennis game across the ocean with Judy, a former American player who was also a witness.
Liu Guoliang, chairman of the China Table Tennis Association, said of table tennis diplomacy: "Table tennis diplomacy is a story I have been listening to since I was a child, especially listening to Director Xu Yinsheng personally speaking more. I participated as a player on the 25th anniversary, and in 2019 I also participated in the U.S.-China diplomatic event at the Nixon Museum in the United States. At any time everyone remembers this history, table tennis is just a carrier, through this sport to transmit friendship and positive energy, which should be passed on from generation to generation. In the future, the world hopes to convey positive energy through sports, and hopes that people around the world will be pulled together through the power of table tennis and sports. ”
At the scene of the event, Liu Guoliang answered the question of shui Junyi and Wang Ning, the two hosts, about "table tennis players are opponents on the field and are not good friends off the field".
"Every athlete on the field wants to win, it's respectful to play. But after the game, the stronger the players also felt the deepest feeling of pity between each other. In the off-field communication between athletes, the most typical is to imitate each other's characteristics and celebrate the movements to show 'I know you very well'. ”
Liu Guoliang also "revealed" the secret: "Now it is very convenient for Chinese and foreign athletes to communicate, and the team members invite each other to eat and exchange while enjoying the food. Liu Guoliang gave an example of his own story with his old rival Waldner, "Old Wa came to China's favorite 'drink two bites', back to the hotel will say 'Liu Guoliang, Liu Guoliang', the front desk called me to tell me that Lao Wa drank too much to find me." "Until now, Liu Guoliang still has contacts with some old friends." Three days ago, I was in touch with Persson and the president of the Swedish Table Tennis Association, and a week ago I had a video call with Lao Wa, who hoped that with the help of ping-pong diplomacy, they would be able to establish friendship with Europe as well. Lao Wa also suggested that I could plan a 'Waldner Cup' and 'Liu Guoliang Cup', he was the captain of the European team, and I was the captain to lead the national table tennis to an exchange match. Shui Junyi said with emotion after listening: "Isn't this the Ping-Pong Diplomacy 2.0 version?" ”
Lin Songtian, president of the Chinese Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and Li Jianming, deputy director of the State General Administration of Sports, respectively talked about the historical role of "ping-pong diplomacy" and the vivid practice of "promoting officials with the people," and expounded the practical enlightenment and reference significance of the sportsmanship of "friendship first and competition second" to reshaping Sino-US relations today.
Yao Ming, Qiao Liang, Chen Lu and Marbury, well-known figures in the Chinese and American sports circles, shared their profound knowledge and understanding of Sino-US sports exchanges, cooperation and people-friendliness through their own experiences, and expressed their ardent expectations for promoting friendship between the Chinese and American people through sports exchanges.
Weng Juwen, principal of the Affiliated Middle School of Fuzhou Institute of Education, Raymond, executive vice president of NYU Shanghai, Bai Lijuan, vice president of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Susan Bao, professor of the University of Missouri, Owen, principal of Lincoln Middle School in Tacoma, Washington, USA, Meng Zhu, chairman of Qualcomm China, and Chen Zhichao, CEO of Tishman China, respectively introduced the practice and achievements of Sino-US exchanges and cooperation in the fields of education, humanities, economy and trade, and talked freely about the friendship between the Chinese and American people. It shows the great vitality and potential of Sino-US people-to-people friendly exchanges and cooperation.
At the end of the event, the guests watched the wonderful battle between former world table tennis champion Wang Hao and the Pombert robot represented by Hongshuangxi. The perfect combination of artificial intelligence and table tennis shows the future of table tennis under the new technology.