Ｃｏｍｍｅｍｏｒａｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ ３５ｔｈ Ａｎｎｉｖｅｒｓａｒｙ ｏｆ Ｐｉｎｇ－Ｐｏｎｇ Ｄｉｐｌｏｍａｃｙ

This year sees the 35th anniversary of the ping-pong diplomacy between China and the United States. To commemorate this major historical event in Sino-US relations and push for further development of a sound and stable bilateral relationship， the CPAFFC gave a reception on the evening of April 7 at the Diaoyutai State Guest House. Xu Kuangdi， vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and president of the China-US People’s Friendship Association (CUSPFA)， Yang Jiechi， vice foreign minister， Li Xiaolin， vice president of the CPAFFC， personages from the diplomatic， sports and business circles who had taken part in the ping-pong diplomacy， and General Brent Scowcroft， former US national security adviser， and Arnold Kanter， former US undersecretary of state， who were visiting Beijing， Clark T. Randt， Jr.， US ambassador to China， among about 80 people， attended the reception.

In his toast at the reception Vice President Xu Kuangdi said， 35 years ago， thanks to the wisdom and foresight of the leaders of China and the United States and the enthusiasm and initiative of nongovernmental personages of the two countries， the US table tennis team made a visit to China， which was unexpected to all people in the world， thus opening a new chapter in the annals of people-to-people exchanges between China and the U. S.. This is the famous ping-pong diplomacy; in Premier Zhou Enlai’s words， the small balls rolled the big ball (the globe). The ping-pong diplomacy shook the world and nongovernmental exchanges and cooperation have exerted tremendous influence on international relations. In the past 35 years， there have been some twists and turns in Sino-US relations， but the momentum of exchanges and cooperation has maintained， in which nongovernmental friendly contacts have played a positive role.

General Scowcroft said at the reception， 35 years ago， ping-pong diplomacy created a friendly atmosphere for China and the United States to open the door to establishing diplomatic relations. In 1972， I visited China as a member of President Nixon’s entourage and discovered that there were great differences between the two countries. We did not even know how to conduct negotiation and exchanges with Chinese leaders. We did not have much in common at that time， but what we had achieved was positive. We still have a long way to go. There will be new obstacles on the road of development of bilateral relations， but I believe that with the joint efforts made by the leaders of our two countries and propelled by people-to-people contacts， cooperation between our two countries will surely be further consolidated and strengthened and bilateral relations will continue to grow.