40 years of 'Ping Pong Diplomacy' marked in New York

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger attended a reception at the Chinese consulate in New York to commemorate the 40th anniversary of "Ping Pong Diplomacy," which helped put China-U.S. relations back on track.

The reception, hosted by Consul General Sun Guoxiang, brought together hundreds of members from the Chinese and U.S. communities and witnesses of the historic event.

"Ping Pong Diplomacy" refers to the exchange of table tennis players between the U.S. and China in the early 1970s. The ping pong games marked a thaw in then-strained China-U.S. relations, paving the way for the normalization of their ties.

Recalling the story of negotiating with the Chinese government over the visit of the U.S. table tennis team, Kissinger, 89, can still recount every detail as if the exchange happened recently.

He also shared reflections on how much China-U.S. relations have evolved since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries in the early 1970s.

"This is not a favor either country does to another. This is a necessity for the people of both countries and for the people of the world," Kissinger said.

George Braithwaite, one of the members of the U.S. table tennis team that went to China in 1971, told Xinhua that he has noticed that a lot of exchanges, on both official and non-governmental levels, happen every year between the two countries.

"I'm always very happy that China sends over the delegation of officials and players. So I keep looking forward to that from your country," Braithwaite said.

Sun said that the reciprocal visit signified that "a small ball can move the big globe ahead."

"Forty years ago, Chinese and U.S. leaders broke the shackles of the cold war mentality and made an historic decision to reach out to each other after years of estrangement and hostility," Sun said. "Those leaders' great vision, wisdom, courage and commitment have continued to inspired us to this day."

On April 10, 1971, the U.S. national table tennis team, along with a group of journalists, became the first U.S. sports delegation to set foot in China since 1949. The Chinese table tennis team made a reciprocal trip to the U.S. in the following April, two months after a visit to Beijing by then U.S. President Richard Nixon.