Ping-pong player served up diplomacy
Photo with U.S. rival created international stir, paved way for Nixon visit to China 10 months later
Zhuang Zedong, a key figure in 1971’s groundbreaking “pingpong diplomacy” between China and the U.S., died earlier this month, China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported.
He was 72 and had struggled with cancer since 2008.
A three-time world champion in table tennis, Zhuang won new fame by presenting a gift to American player Glenn Cowan, who had accidentally boarded a bus carrying the Chinese team at the World Championships in Nagoya, Japan, in 1971.
Zhuang and Cowan were photographed together, creating an international sensation at a time when China and the U.S. were bitter Cold War rivals. Under orders from Chinese leader Mao Zedong, the 15-member American team was then invited to China at the end of the Nagoya championships for an icebreaking visit.
Ten months later, then-president Richard Nixon made a surprise visit to China, leading to the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1979.
Zhuang became a favourite of Mao’s wife, Jiang Qing, a member of the notorious Gang of Four, which held sway over China’s cultural scene during the radical 1966’76 Cultural Revolution.
Jiang appointed Zhuang to a number of political posts in the sports ministry. Zhuang came under investigation after the gang was deposed and Jiang imprisoned following Mao’s death in 1976. He subsequently spent years coaching the provincial team in the northern province of Shanxi.
He returned to Beijing in 1985 and coached young players for several years.
Zhuang was married twice and had one daughter.