Author: Nicholas Griffin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451642814
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
Combining the insight of Franklin Foer’s How Soccer Explains the World and the intrigue of Ben Affleck’s Argo, Ping Pong Diplomacy traces the story of how an aristocratic British spy used the game of table tennis to propel a Communist strategy that changed the shape of the world. THE SPRING OF 1971 heralded the greatest geopolitical realignment in a generation. After twenty-two years of antagonism, China and the United States suddenly moved toward a détente—achieved not by politicians but by Ping-Pong players. The Western press delighted in the absurdity of the moment and branded it “Ping-Pong Diplomacy.” But for the Chinese, Ping-Pong was always political, a strategic cog in Mao Zedong’s foreign policy. Nicholas Griffin proves that the organized game, from its first breath, was tied to Communism thanks to its founder, Ivor Montagu, son of a wealthy English baron and spy for the Soviet Union. Ping-Pong Diplomacy traces a crucial intersection of sports and society. Griffin tells the strange and tragic story of how the game was manipulated at the highest levels; how the Chinese government helped cover up the death of 36 million peasants by holding the World Table Tennis Championships during the Great Famine; how championship players were driven to their deaths during the Cultural Revolution; and, finally, how the survivors were reconvened in 1971 and ordered to reach out to their American counterparts. Through a cast of eccentric characters, from spies to hippies and Ping-Pong-obsessed generals to atom-bomb survivors, Griffin explores how a neglected sport was used to help realign the balance of worldwide power.
Ping-Pong Diplomacy
Author: Nicholas Griffin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451642814
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
Combining the insight of Franklin Foer’s How Soccer Explains the World and the intrigue of Ben Affleck’s Argo, Ping Pong Diplomacy traces the story of how an aristocratic British spy used the game of table tennis to propel a Communist strategy that changed the shape of the world. THE SPRING OF 1971 heralded the greatest geopolitical realignment in a generation. After twenty-two years of antagonism, China and the United States suddenly moved toward a détente—achieved not by politicians but by Ping-Pong players. The Western press delighted in the absurdity of the moment and branded it “Ping-Pong Diplomacy.” But for the Chinese, Ping-Pong was always political, a strategic cog in Mao Zedong’s foreign policy. Nicholas Griffin proves that the organized game, from its first breath, was tied to Communism thanks to its founder, Ivor Montagu, son of a wealthy English baron and spy for the Soviet Union. Ping-Pong Diplomacy traces a crucial intersection of sports and society. Griffin tells the strange and tragic story of how the game was manipulated at the highest levels; how the Chinese government helped cover up the death of 36 million peasants by holding the World Table Tennis Championships during the Great Famine; how championship players were driven to their deaths during the Cultural Revolution; and, finally, how the survivors were reconvened in 1971 and ordered to reach out to their American counterparts. Through a cast of eccentric characters, from spies to hippies and Ping-Pong-obsessed generals to atom-bomb survivors, Griffin explores how a neglected sport was used to help realign the balance of worldwide power.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451642814
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
Combining the insight of Franklin Foer’s How Soccer Explains the World and the intrigue of Ben Affleck’s Argo, Ping Pong Diplomacy traces the story of how an aristocratic British spy used the game of table tennis to propel a Communist strategy that changed the shape of the world. THE SPRING OF 1971 heralded the greatest geopolitical realignment in a generation. After twenty-two years of antagonism, China and the United States suddenly moved toward a détente—achieved not by politicians but by Ping-Pong players. The Western press delighted in the absurdity of the moment and branded it “Ping-Pong Diplomacy.” But for the Chinese, Ping-Pong was always political, a strategic cog in Mao Zedong’s foreign policy. Nicholas Griffin proves that the organized game, from its first breath, was tied to Communism thanks to its founder, Ivor Montagu, son of a wealthy English baron and spy for the Soviet Union. Ping-Pong Diplomacy traces a crucial intersection of sports and society. Griffin tells the strange and tragic story of how the game was manipulated at the highest levels; how the Chinese government helped cover up the death of 36 million peasants by holding the World Table Tennis Championships during the Great Famine; how championship players were driven to their deaths during the Cultural Revolution; and, finally, how the survivors were reconvened in 1971 and ordered to reach out to their American counterparts. Through a cast of eccentric characters, from spies to hippies and Ping-Pong-obsessed generals to atom-bomb survivors, Griffin explores how a neglected sport was used to help realign the balance of worldwide power.
The Origin of Ping-Pong Diplomacy
Author: M. Itoh
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230339352
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
Why and how did Japan Table Tennis Association President Goto Koji invite China to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, in 1971 (the Nagoya World's)? Against strong opposition at home and abroad, Goto Koji created a stage for Premier Zhou Enlai to launch Ping-Pong Diplomacy, which changed world history forever
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230339352
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
Why and how did Japan Table Tennis Association President Goto Koji invite China to participate in the World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, in 1971 (the Nagoya World's)? Against strong opposition at home and abroad, Goto Koji created a stage for Premier Zhou Enlai to launch Ping-Pong Diplomacy, which changed world history forever
Adventures of the Ping-Pong Diplomats
Author: Fred Danner
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1465392300
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 238
Book Description
This story reads like an adventure novel. The only difference is that the events in a novel are made up; these adventures really happened; the people are real; and the political effects of their actions have produced 40 years of peaceful coexistence between the Peoples Republic of China and the United States. This is the only historically complete narrative which covers the actual ping-pong diplomacy events, provides the background foreign policy information to explain why these events happened, & shows what could have happened if there were no ping-pong diplomats. The world news media was prevented from general coverage of the U.S. World Table Tennis Team to China, while U.S. publicity about the return visit of the Chinese World Team to the U.S. on the Grand Tour was largely controlled to serve the political aims and objectives of the Nixon administration. For those average Americans who became our Cold-War Warriors willingly taking the risks involved, and those who worked behind the scenes to make their risks worthwhile; such experiences occur only once in a lifetime. America and the world are a lot better off because of their efforts. Its time to read the real story of ping-pong diplomacy!
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1465392300
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 238
Book Description
This story reads like an adventure novel. The only difference is that the events in a novel are made up; these adventures really happened; the people are real; and the political effects of their actions have produced 40 years of peaceful coexistence between the Peoples Republic of China and the United States. This is the only historically complete narrative which covers the actual ping-pong diplomacy events, provides the background foreign policy information to explain why these events happened, & shows what could have happened if there were no ping-pong diplomats. The world news media was prevented from general coverage of the U.S. World Table Tennis Team to China, while U.S. publicity about the return visit of the Chinese World Team to the U.S. on the Grand Tour was largely controlled to serve the political aims and objectives of the Nixon administration. For those average Americans who became our Cold-War Warriors willingly taking the risks involved, and those who worked behind the scenes to make their risks worthwhile; such experiences occur only once in a lifetime. America and the world are a lot better off because of their efforts. Its time to read the real story of ping-pong diplomacy!
The Media and Sino-American Rapprochement, 1963–1972
Author: Guolin Yi
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 080717467X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
Winner of the ACPSS Research Award An important new cultural study of the Cold War, Guolin Yi’s The Media and Sino-American Rapprochement, 1963–1972 analyzes how the media in both countries shaped public perceptions of the changing relations between China and the United States in the decade prior to Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing. This book offers the first systematic study of Cankao Xiaoxi (Reference News), an internal Chinese newspaper that carried relatively objective stories the Xinhua News Agency translated from world news media for circulation among Communist cadres. As the main channel for the cadres to learn about the outside world, this newspaper provides a window into China’s evolving foreign policy, including the reception of signals from the Nixon administration. Yi compares this internal communications channel with the public accounts contained in the more widely circulated newspaper People’s Daily, a chief propaganda outlet of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) directed at its own people and China watchers all over the world. A third level of communication emerges in classified CCP instructions and government documents. By approaching the Chinese communication system on three levels—internal, public, and classified—Yi’s analysis demonstrates how people at different positions in the political hierarchy accessed varying types of information, allowing him to chart the development of Beijing’s approach to the U.S. government. In a corresponding analysis of the defining features of American reporting on China, Yi considers the impact of government-media relationships in the United States during the Cold War. Alongside prominent magazines and newspapers, particularly the New York Times and the Washington Post in their differing coverage of key events, Yi discusses television networks, which proved vital for promoting the success of Ping-Pong Diplomacy and the impact of Nixon’s visit in 1972. With its comparative study of news outlets in the two countries, The Media and Sino-American Rapprochement, 1963–1972 presents a thorough and comprehensive perspective on the role of the media in influencing domestic Chinese and American public opinion during a critical decade.
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 080717467X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
Winner of the ACPSS Research Award An important new cultural study of the Cold War, Guolin Yi’s The Media and Sino-American Rapprochement, 1963–1972 analyzes how the media in both countries shaped public perceptions of the changing relations between China and the United States in the decade prior to Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing. This book offers the first systematic study of Cankao Xiaoxi (Reference News), an internal Chinese newspaper that carried relatively objective stories the Xinhua News Agency translated from world news media for circulation among Communist cadres. As the main channel for the cadres to learn about the outside world, this newspaper provides a window into China’s evolving foreign policy, including the reception of signals from the Nixon administration. Yi compares this internal communications channel with the public accounts contained in the more widely circulated newspaper People’s Daily, a chief propaganda outlet of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) directed at its own people and China watchers all over the world. A third level of communication emerges in classified CCP instructions and government documents. By approaching the Chinese communication system on three levels—internal, public, and classified—Yi’s analysis demonstrates how people at different positions in the political hierarchy accessed varying types of information, allowing him to chart the development of Beijing’s approach to the U.S. government. In a corresponding analysis of the defining features of American reporting on China, Yi considers the impact of government-media relationships in the United States during the Cold War. Alongside prominent magazines and newspapers, particularly the New York Times and the Washington Post in their differing coverage of key events, Yi discusses television networks, which proved vital for promoting the success of Ping-Pong Diplomacy and the impact of Nixon’s visit in 1972. With its comparative study of news outlets in the two countries, The Media and Sino-American Rapprochement, 1963–1972 presents a thorough and comprehensive perspective on the role of the media in influencing domestic Chinese and American public opinion during a critical decade.
Chinese and Americans
Author: Guoqi Xu
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674052536
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 349
Book Description
Using culture rather than politics or economics as a reference point, Xu Guoqi highlights significant yet neglected cultural exchanges in which China and America have contributed to each other’s national development, building the foundation of what Zhou Enlai called a relationship of “equality and mutual benefit.”
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674052536
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 349
Book Description
Using culture rather than politics or economics as a reference point, Xu Guoqi highlights significant yet neglected cultural exchanges in which China and America have contributed to each other’s national development, building the foundation of what Zhou Enlai called a relationship of “equality and mutual benefit.”
Negotiating with the Enemy
Author: Yafeng Xia
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253112370
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
"A very good attempt to give a coherent and consistent account of the China-U.S. contacts during the Cold War.... [R]eaders will certainly gain a better understanding of this interesting and intricate history." -- Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Few relationships during the Cold War were as dramatic as that between the United States and China. During World War II, China was America's ally against Japan. By 1949, the two countries viewed each other as adversaries and soon faced off in Korea. For the next two decades, Beijing and Washington were bitter enemies. Negotiating with the Enemy is a gripping account of that period. On several occasions -- Taiwan in 1954 and 1958, and Vietnam in 1965 -- the nations were again on the verge of direct military confrontation. However, even as relations seemed at their worst, the process leading to a rapprochement had begun. Dramatic episodes such as the Ping-Pong diplomacy of spring 1971 and Henry Kissinger's secret trip to Beijing in July 1971 paved the way for Nixon's historic 1972 meeting with Mao.
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253112370
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
"A very good attempt to give a coherent and consistent account of the China-U.S. contacts during the Cold War.... [R]eaders will certainly gain a better understanding of this interesting and intricate history." -- Zhou Wenzhong, Chinese Ambassador to the United States Few relationships during the Cold War were as dramatic as that between the United States and China. During World War II, China was America's ally against Japan. By 1949, the two countries viewed each other as adversaries and soon faced off in Korea. For the next two decades, Beijing and Washington were bitter enemies. Negotiating with the Enemy is a gripping account of that period. On several occasions -- Taiwan in 1954 and 1958, and Vietnam in 1965 -- the nations were again on the verge of direct military confrontation. However, even as relations seemed at their worst, the process leading to a rapprochement had begun. Dramatic episodes such as the Ping-Pong diplomacy of spring 1971 and Henry Kissinger's secret trip to Beijing in July 1971 paved the way for Nixon's historic 1972 meeting with Mao.
A Genealogy of Bamboo Diplomacy
Author: Jittipat Poonkham
Publisher: ANU Press
ISBN: 1760464996
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
In 1975, M.R. Kurkrit Pramoj met Mao Zedong, marking the eventual establishment of diplomatic relations and a discursive rupture with the previous narrative of Communist powers as an existential threat. This book critically interrogates the birth of bamboo (bending with the wind) diplomacy and the politics of Thai détente with Russia and China in the long 1970s (1968–80). By 1968, Thailand was encountering discursive anxiety amid the prospect of American retrenchment from the Indo-Pacific region. As such, Thailand developed a new discourse of détente to make sense of the rapidly changing world politics and replace the hegemonic discourse of anticommunism. By doing so, it created a political struggle between the old and new discourses. Jittipat Poonkham also argues that bamboo diplomacy – previously seen as a classic and continual ‘tradition’ of Thai-style diplomacy – had its origins in Thai détente and has become the metanarrative of Thai diplomacy since then. Based on a genealogical approach and multi‑archival research, this book examines three key episodes of Thai détente: Thanat Khoman (1968–71), M.R. Kukrit Pramoj (1975–76), and General Kriangsak Chomanan (1977–80). This transformation was represented in numerous diplomatic/discursive practices, such as ping‑pong diplomacy, petro‑diplomacy, trade and cultural diplomacy, and normal visits.
Publisher: ANU Press
ISBN: 1760464996
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
In 1975, M.R. Kurkrit Pramoj met Mao Zedong, marking the eventual establishment of diplomatic relations and a discursive rupture with the previous narrative of Communist powers as an existential threat. This book critically interrogates the birth of bamboo (bending with the wind) diplomacy and the politics of Thai détente with Russia and China in the long 1970s (1968–80). By 1968, Thailand was encountering discursive anxiety amid the prospect of American retrenchment from the Indo-Pacific region. As such, Thailand developed a new discourse of détente to make sense of the rapidly changing world politics and replace the hegemonic discourse of anticommunism. By doing so, it created a political struggle between the old and new discourses. Jittipat Poonkham also argues that bamboo diplomacy – previously seen as a classic and continual ‘tradition’ of Thai-style diplomacy – had its origins in Thai détente and has become the metanarrative of Thai diplomacy since then. Based on a genealogical approach and multi‑archival research, this book examines three key episodes of Thai détente: Thanat Khoman (1968–71), M.R. Kukrit Pramoj (1975–76), and General Kriangsak Chomanan (1977–80). This transformation was represented in numerous diplomatic/discursive practices, such as ping‑pong diplomacy, petro‑diplomacy, trade and cultural diplomacy, and normal visits.
The University of Michigan in China
Author: David Ward
Publisher: Michigan Publishing Services
ISBN: 9781607854272
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The friendship between the University of Michigan and China spans more than a century and a half. Through years of peace and years of war; through political turmoil and the shifting winds of public opinion; since the first years of U-M's Ann Arbor campus and the last years of China's Qing Dynasty, the University and China have been partners. This book tells the story of twenty remarkable individuals, the country they transformed, and the University that helped them do it. There are many "firsts" in this book-first Chinese students at U-M, first female college president of China-and there are many "fathers" of disciplines: Wu Dayou, father of physics in China; Zheng Zuoxin, father of Chinese ornithology; Zeng Chengkui, father of marine botany. While much has been written about these leaders and scholars in both English and Chinese, nowhere else is their collective story told or their shared bond with the University of Michigan celebrated. The University of Michigan in China celebrates this nearly 200-year-old legacy.
Publisher: Michigan Publishing Services
ISBN: 9781607854272
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
The friendship between the University of Michigan and China spans more than a century and a half. Through years of peace and years of war; through political turmoil and the shifting winds of public opinion; since the first years of U-M's Ann Arbor campus and the last years of China's Qing Dynasty, the University and China have been partners. This book tells the story of twenty remarkable individuals, the country they transformed, and the University that helped them do it. There are many "firsts" in this book-first Chinese students at U-M, first female college president of China-and there are many "fathers" of disciplines: Wu Dayou, father of physics in China; Zheng Zuoxin, father of Chinese ornithology; Zeng Chengkui, father of marine botany. While much has been written about these leaders and scholars in both English and Chinese, nowhere else is their collective story told or their shared bond with the University of Michigan celebrated. The University of Michigan in China celebrates this nearly 200-year-old legacy.
The Metaphysics of Ping-Pong
Author: Guido Mina di Sospiro
Publisher: Quest Books
ISBN: 083563194X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
When a mortifying defeat to his teenage son rekindles his lifelong passion for table tennis, keen philosopher Guido Mina di Sospiro sets out to learn the game properly. Guido’s love for spinning a feather-weight ball takes him from his local Ping-Pong club, populated by idiosyncratic players with extraordinary stories to tell, to training drills with a world-class coach. This seemingly harmless game also leads him into sticky situations in the CIA headquarters and the ganglands of Washington, D.C. Woven throughout his Ping-Pong epiphany are philosophical ruminations on Plato and Aristotle, metaphysicians and empiricists, Jung’s dark shadow, Sun Tzu’s war tactics, the I Ching, and much more. As Guido’s journey takes him from Big Sur to a nail-biting showdown in China against a string of elite players, he finds that Ping-Pong can teach us a surprising amount about life.
Publisher: Quest Books
ISBN: 083563194X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 224
Book Description
When a mortifying defeat to his teenage son rekindles his lifelong passion for table tennis, keen philosopher Guido Mina di Sospiro sets out to learn the game properly. Guido’s love for spinning a feather-weight ball takes him from his local Ping-Pong club, populated by idiosyncratic players with extraordinary stories to tell, to training drills with a world-class coach. This seemingly harmless game also leads him into sticky situations in the CIA headquarters and the ganglands of Washington, D.C. Woven throughout his Ping-Pong epiphany are philosophical ruminations on Plato and Aristotle, metaphysicians and empiricists, Jung’s dark shadow, Sun Tzu’s war tactics, the I Ching, and much more. As Guido’s journey takes him from Big Sur to a nail-biting showdown in China against a string of elite players, he finds that Ping-Pong can teach us a surprising amount about life.
Olympic Dreams
Author: Guoqi XU
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674045424
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
Already the world has seen the political, economic, and cultural significance of hosting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing—in policies instituted and altered, positions softened, projects undertaken. But will the Olympics make a lasting difference? This book approaches questions about the nature and future of China through the lens of sports—particularly as sports finds its utmost international expression in the Olympics.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674045424
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
Already the world has seen the political, economic, and cultural significance of hosting the 2008 Olympics in Beijing—in policies instituted and altered, positions softened, projects undertaken. But will the Olympics make a lasting difference? This book approaches questions about the nature and future of China through the lens of sports—particularly as sports finds its utmost international expression in the Olympics.