Aftermath

   Ping Pong Diplomacy：
A Rally For U.S.- China Relations

 Aftermath

"Would the interests of the two sides ever be truly congruent? Could they ever separate them from prevalent ideologies sufficiently to avoid tumults of conflicting emotions? Nixon’s visit to China had opened the door to dealing with these challenges; they are with us still."
~Henry Kissinger, On China

“四月七日，我们伟大领袖毛主席把乒乓球一弹过去，就转动了世界。小球转动地球，震动了世界。毛主席巧妙的利用了乒乓外交，邀请美国乒乓球队访问中国，建立了中美交流的渠道。那么，中国和美国的关系将向什么方向发展？”

（“On April 7th, our great leader Chairman Mao served a table tennis ball, and it changed the world. A small ball that moved the Earth and shook the world. By tactically using Ping Pong Diplomacy, and inviting the US table tennis team to visit China, Chairman Mao established Sino-US communication channels. Well then, what would be the future development direction of Sino-US relations?”）

~Zhou 周恩来

"A Gallup poll quickly conducted in the United States revealed something else entirely. For the first time ever the number of Americans in favor of China’s inclusion in the United Nations had vaulted to a positive Majority."
~Nicholas Griffin, Ping Pong Diplomacy

Source: United Nations Digital Library

Following Kissinger and Nixon's visits, the United Nations passed General Assembly Resolution 2758. This led Taiwan to be expelled from the UN and all future organizations such as the World Trade Organization. 

“Recognizing that the representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations and that the People's Republic of China is of the five permanent members of the [UN] Security Council.”

~United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758.

"Decides to restore all its rights to the People's Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek [Generalissimo of Taiwan] from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it."
~United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758.

Source: IMF Report: October 2020 

The global recognition allowed China's economy to soar, with the fastest growing economy in the last 30 years.

The world now relies heavily on China economically with 28.7% of the global supply chain in China.

Chinese Manufacturing. Source: ChinaMike

Ping Pong Diplomacy prompted diplomatic progress on many international challenges of the time, such as U.S - China relations, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. It also introduced conversation on Taiwan.

Vietnamese negotiator Le-Duc-Tho and Kissinger, 1973

Taiwanese President inspecting defenses, 2019 

Toppling of Lenin statue. Fall of the USSR, 1991

“Sometimes, one single event can bring about strategic changes. The inevitability of things usually appears in the contingency of things. Similarly, strategic changes often express themselves in trivial details.”
~Zhou 周恩来