American analyst Andrew Brown:
The need for "table tennis diplomacy" between China and America is increasing
“Ping-pong diplomacy” is not applicable these days.
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"Ping-pong diplomacy" warmed the relationship between Nixon (right) and Mao Zedong.
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Biden is required to take a step that breaks the deadlock in the relationship with China.
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Diplomatic tensions are rising between the world's two largest economies. Last week, the administration of US President Joe Biden accused hackers working under the auspices of China's largest spy agency of stealing Microsoft's email programming systems, an allegation that China angrily rejected as a "distortion." for reputation.”
Last week, the White House warned US companies of the risks involved in operating in Hong Kong.
At the same time, more companies are being added to the list of Chinese companies that are being sanctioned by Washington.
Fifty years ago, table tennis broke the deadlock between the two countries during the first administration of former US President Richard Nixon, said Andrew Brown, managing editor of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum.
Orville Schell, a researcher specializing in China, notes that an American team attracted the attention of the then Chinese Prime Minister, Zhou Enlai, during a course hosted by Japan.
A few days later, the team members were greeted at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, after a surprise invitation.
Three months later, the more traditional approach of diplomacy was taken when then-Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met with Chinese Prime Minister Zhou Enlai during a secret visit to prepare for the "historic breakthrough toward China," Brown added in a report published by Bloomberg Agency.
Unfortunately, however, a similar continuation of events would be highly unlikely today, even as the two countries repeatedly confront their Cold War.
digital vandalism
Digital sabotage is a serious provocation, a cause and pretext for a war under some circumstances, and the impact of a cyber attack at Microsoft and tens of thousands of companies as well.
The incident brings to mind the massive cyber attacks on Google more than a decade ago, when hackers came close to stealing the company's source code, forcing it to withdraw its search engine from China.
Denouncing the attacks, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken condemned what he described as "digital authoritarianism", a description that echoes US President Biden's view of the competition between the United States and China, as a struggle of "democratic countries against autocratic countries" for hegemony over the world. The world and its leadership in the twenty-first century.
"Tennis Diplomacy"
Brown added that "table tennis diplomacy" will not break the deadlock these days, not because the strange circumstances of the 1970s cannot be repeated, but because the rules underpinning the world's most important bilateral relationship have changed.
If we go back to that time, we will find that the two countries were in need of the other, as China had separated from the Soviet Union at that time, and was in dire need of another strong friend.
For its part, America wanted an Asian power to counterbalance the Soviet expansionist policy, but the collapse of the Soviet Union undermined the main reason for this relationship.
What is more, ideological and political differences that have been extinguished by mutual hostility toward a common enemy have surfaced.
It is worth remembering that in the early 1970s, China was in the midst of the Cultural Revolution, which was a waste of human rights.
Humiliating concessions
To achieve rapprochement with the United States, former Chinese leader Mao Zedong agreed to humiliating concessions on Taiwan, which then, as now, became the most sensitive diplomatic issue in relations between Beijing and Washington.
Even sports are now a source of anger and anger in Sino-US relations.
The National Basketball Association has been involved in a dispute with Beijing over a social media post about Hong Kong.
The United States is threatening a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing next year.
Nevertheless, there are important differences between past and current cold wars, the most notable of which is a high degree of economic interdependence.
confusing fact
Despite Biden's hawkish rhetoric and the fact that he has yet to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, for the US president, there is the confusing fact that US companies are still competing to do business with the Chinese giant.
For example, American companies are scrambling to manage Chinese wealth, and last year, China overtook the United States as the main destination for direct investment in the world.
Notably, while US allies have joined in condemning the alleged Chinese cyber attack, their statements have not threatened sanctions, and neither country wants to pull out of an economy that will soon become the largest in the world.
Since the first high-level diplomatic meeting between Biden administration officials and their Chinese counterparts in Alaska (which resulted in a public declaration of hostility), the two countries have in fact held no talks.
And US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently announced that she had no plans to revive the Strategic Economic Dialogue, the main platform for coordinating bilateral policy, until former President Donald Trump abandoned her regular meetings.
It was intended that US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman would try to open the door again during her recent visit to China to help manage escalating tensions, but Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhi Feng told her that his country's relationship with the United States It is in a state of "stalemate" and is facing "serious difficulties".
Sherman's discussions with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also focused largely on human rights.
Brown concluded his report by saying that this visit is not a breakthrough in the style of a breakthrough in the sport of table tennis, but in this Cold War, this normal diplomatic protocol is an important progress.
• Anthony Blinken condemned what he described as "digital authoritarianism," a description that echoes US President Biden's view of the competition between the United States and China, as a struggle of "democratic countries against tyrannical countries."
• “Table tennis diplomacy” will not succeed in breaking the deadlock these days, not because the strange circumstances of the 1970s cannot be repeated, but because of the fact that the rules underlying the world's most important bilateral relationship have changed.
Memories of Judy
When 15-year-old Judy Horfrost landed in China for the first time in 50 years, the American table tennis player knew nothing of China other than that it was a socialist country with lots of bikes and no diplomatic relations with the country.
Fifty years ago, Horfrost competed with many Chinese players on several occasions, chanting "Jiayou", the Chinese slogan to greet competitors.
Hurfrost was a member of the first US ping-pong team to visit China, and she witnessed and participated in the resumption of Sino-US relations.
A celebration was held to mark the fiftieth anniversary of "ping-pong diplomacy".
In the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing.
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