Thai team puts some spin on ping-pong diplomacy
Thailand and China literally entered into ping-pong diplomacy in a bid to improve relations.
China invited Thailand to send a delegation of ping-pong players to slap paddles in an international tournament in China. US-backed Bangkok opposed communist China’s efforts to spread its political ideology in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, but the games were designed to ease hostilities. Thailand joined 25 other teams from the Middle East and Asia in the first Asian Table Tennis Championships in Beijing on September 2-13.
The Thai squad entered China on August 27, the first official contact between the two nations since communists seized Beijing in 1949. Outstanding issues between the two nations included Beijing’s alleged support for communist guerrillas in Thailand, suspicion about the loyalties of ethnic Chinese living in the kingdom, and Thai trade deals with Taiwan. The Thais were invited on a tour of the country after the tournament and returned on September 22 with praise for the people of China.
Thai officials also met with Chinese Prime Minister Chou En-lai in a historic meeting in the Great Hall of the People, moving the nations towards trade and other bilateral relations short of full diplomatic ties.