Twelve Americans spent: Kahn, China Hands, 103.
Sometimes they’d play Ping-Pong: Carter, Mission to Yan’an, 41.
favored anything starring: Author interview with Seymour Topping, April 27, 2011.
to make The Great Dictator: “The Fears of a Clown,” The Guardian, October 11, 2002.
Dixie Mission be made permanent: Carter, Mission to Yan’an, 99.
the world’s worst leadership: Topping, On the Front Lines, 47.
illiterate, peasant son of a bitch: Kahn, China Hands, 82.
code name was ALBATROSS: Carter, Mission to Yan’an, 131.
the weakness of the American foreign policy: “China Hands,” U.S. Diplomacy, http://www.usdiplomacy.org/history/service/history_chinahands.php.
a school friend of Chen Yi’s: Kahn, China Hands, 117.
to posts as incongruous: Ibid., 10.
was a “wasteland” that came: Ibid., 275.
guerilla warfare may continue: Ibid., 191.
closer to astrophysics: Author interview with Robert Oxnam, February 11, 2011.
any time the PRC gained: Conversation between Alan Carter and Bill Cunningham, audiotape, William J. Cunningham Papers.
the United States is open: William J. Cunningham, interview, Frontline Diplomacy series, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Tell them we know: William J. Cunningham, interview, March 17, 1997, Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Arlington, VA.
you’ve gone awfully far: Cunningham, interview, Frontline Diplomacy series.
I haven’t the slightest idea: William J. Cunningham, audiotape, recorded June 1988, William J. Cunningham Papers.
Chapter 40 | Decisions to Be Made
barricaded in his hotel room: William J. Cunningham, interview, March 17, 1997, Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection, Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Arlington, VA.
pounding down his door: Author interview with William J. Cunningham, May 12, 2012.
rebuilt his question: Cunningham, interview, Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection.
in a windowless room: Graham Steenhoven, interview, transcript, Box 20, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
the only thing he had control: Ibid.
We were all nincompoops: Author interview with Tim Boggan, November 18, 2010.
pigtails, satin pajamas: Steenhoven, interview, National Archive on Sino-American Relations.
quick breakfast of beer: Rufford Harrison, “A Meeting Is a Meeting Is a . . . ,” Table Tennis Topics, July–August 1971.
like everyone’s grandpa: Author interview with William J. Cunningham, May 23, 2012.
had he seen Glenn Cowan: Author interview with Rufford Harrison, April 7, 2011.
who were these fellows?: Herbert Levin, interview by William Cunningham, May 13, 2006, transcript, William J. Cunningham Papers.
Never call a Chinese: Rufford Harrison, interview, November 16, 1977, transcript, Box 19, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
young Californian: Rufford Harrison, interview by William Cunningham, June 14, 1999, transcript, tape 2, 17, William J. Cunningham Papers.
Steenhoven’s first worry: Harrison, interview.
Chapter 41 | The Worries
There was no avoiding the media: Author interview with Rufford Harrison, April 7, 2011.
He carried four cameras: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 8.
a fairy godmother: US Department of State, “Invitation to US Table Tennis Team.”
To Steenhoven’s relief: Eckstein, “Ping Pong Diplomacy.”
going to look like an asshole: Author interview with Tim Boggan, November 18, 2010.
Gusikoff called him back: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 6.
Don’t worry, baby: Ibid., chap. 7.
flushed the last of his stash: Ibid., chap. 6.
he could play chess: Author interview with Dell Sweeris, June 15, 2011.
giving him a blow job: Boggan, interview.
being dressed down by his captain: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 7.
guy’s still on something: Boggan, interview.
Chapter 42 | Crossing the Borders
given explicit directions: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 8.
there was music: Author interview with Judy Bochenski, August 9, 2012.
Am I going to come out: George and Madeline Buben, interview, transcript, Box 19, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
crossed the border: NARA College Park, RG 59, SNF 1970–73, Entry 1613 POL CHINCOM US, Box 2188, National Archives, Washington, DC.
hit the front page: “GI Toll in Week at 9-Month High,” New York Times, April 9, 1971.
China’s quiet surge: “China Is Quietly Renewing an Active Role in Africa,” New York Times, April 9, 1971.
life is simple: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 8.
playing chess against himself: Ibid.
one of the best books: Ibid.
fear that they would be torn: Rufford Harrison, interview by William Cunningham, June 14, 1999, transcript, William J. Cunningham Papers.
a vat of vomit: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 9.
tried to get on bikes: John Tannehill, interview, transcript, Box 19, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
The only way we could stop: Ibid.
there was only the usual: “Chinese Greet Americans with Smiles and Curiosity,” New York Times, April 12, 1971.
whistling at the girls: Tannehill, interview, National Archive on Sino-American Relations.
stoned to death: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 9.
crept into officials’ offices: Author interview with Xu Shaofa, May 3, 2011.
Roderick was among: “China Has Made Huge Gains in 25 Years, Newsman Finds,” Los Angeles Times, April 19, 1971.
Early on, he heard one player: “China: A Whole New Ballgame for Newsmen,” Washington Post, April 16, 1971.
He thought they were going: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 9.
muscled aside Roderick: Ibid., chap. 10.
the Harlem Globetrotters: Ibid.
making small speeches of thanks: Ibid.
stream of oncoming Mongolian ponies: “Americans Visit Great Wall,” New York Times, April 13, 1971.
Cowan thought that the country: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 10.
Tannehill taped a silk-screen: Ibid., chap. 11.
don’t leave me here!: Ibid.
rolled past him in a wheelchair: Tannehill, interview, National Archive on Sino-American Relations.
From his sick bed: John Roderick, “Chinese Tact Lets U.S. Lose Gracefully,” New York Times, April 14, 1971.
What else was he supposed to do: Graham Steenhoven, interview, transcript, Box 20, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Chapter 43 | All Eyes on America
grander than Madison Square Garden: “The Play and the Meals Are Tough on US Team,” New York Times, April 12, 1971.
the ailing Tannehill: John Roderick, “Chinese Tact Lets U.S. Lose Gracefully,” New York Times, April 14, 1971.
The interpreter just smiled: Graham Steenhoven, interview, transcript, Box 20, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
a twist-like shuffle: “Mao’s Thoughts Greet English Sports Team,” The Times (London), April 14, 1971.
the timing of the applause: Guoqi, Olympic Dreams, 137.
Steenhoven listened as laughter: Steenhoven, interview, National Archive on Sino-American Relations.
Eight hundred million people: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 11.
probably being reeducated: Roderick, “Chinese Tact Lets U.S. Lose Gracefully.”
Hippies aren’t rude: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 12.
/> Had you ever seen an American before?: Ibid.
big bulky chairs: Steenhoven, interview, National Archive on Sino-American Relations.
A chagrined Canadian player: “Canada’s Ping-Pongers Admit Political Use Made of China Trip,” Globe and Mail (Toronto), April 19, 1971.
was quite the tea party: Joe Schlesinger, “What China’s Ping-Pong Diplomacy Taught Us,” CBC News (Canada), April 11, 2011.
What joy it is: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 12.
the first person in purple: “Chou and ‘Team Hippie’ Hit It Off,” New York Times, April 15, 1971.
also the rest of the Americans: Ibid.
more time with Cowan: Ibid.
could have been a top executive: Steenhoven, interview, National Archive on Sino-American Relations.
Chapter 44 | Tension
his forgotten toothbrush: George and Madeline Buben, interview, transcript, Box 19, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
his long-haired hippie: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity.
racquets as teething tools: Graham Steenhoven, interview, transcript, Box 20, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
extremely upset: Department of State, telegram, April 16, NARA RG59, Entry 1613 CUL 16 US Box 382-20120924-1071, National Archives, Washington, DC.
The great leader Chairman Mao: Ibid.
very special treatment: John Tannehill, interview, transcript, Box 19, National Archive on Sino-American Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
was the exact antithesis: Ibid.
Get some yellow paint: Ibid.
behaved very properly: Ibid.
Look, this is silly: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 12.
Steenhoven finally silenced him: Author interview with Tim Boggan, November 18, 2010.
“I was getting into the chickens”: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 14.
he’d smuggled drugs: Tannehill, interview, National Archive on Sino-American Relations.
Why the hell do you keep talking: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 14.
Dick Miles interviewed Tannehill: Ibid.
an art form of stupefying boredom: Kissinger, White House Years, 779.
Boggan estimated: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 15.
There are the vultures: Ibid.
Chinese had carefully analyzed each member: Embassy in Kabul to Department of State, telegram, May 19, 1971, NARA RG59, Entry 1613 POL CHICOM-USSR, Box 2192, National Archives, Washington, DC.
cameras and elbows in our faces: Author interview with Judy Bochenski, August 9, 2011.
ordered the consulate: William J. Cunningham, interview, Frontline Diplomacy series, Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
No repeat no contacts: Department of State to FBI/CIA/Joint State/DIA/Justice, telegram, April 16, 1971, NARA RG56, Entry 1613: SNF 1970–73, CUL 16 US, National Archives, Washington, DC.
Cunningham looked at Steenhoven: Cunningham, notes to author, April 29, 2013.
Was Steenhoven working for the CIA?: William Cunningham, audiotape, recorded June 1988, William J. Cunningham Papers.
“Our kids will just be delighted”: Mrs. Cunningham does not remember calling Steenhoven “Fred,” only explaining to their children that he was “an uncle from home traveling around Asia.” Cunningham, notes to author.
Cunningham didn’t want: Cunningham, notes to author.
unsophisticated youth: Department of State, telegram, April 19, 1971, NARA RG56, Entry 1613: SNF 1970–73, CUL 16 US, National Archives, Washington, DC.
Zhou Enlai told me: Cunningham, audiotape, June 1988.
Sometimes, one single event: Ross and Changbin, Re-examining the Cold War: US–China Diplomacy, 1954–1973, 344.
conscious if limited diplomatic initiative: “US Table Tennis Team to Visit China for the Week,” New York Times, April 8, 1971.
For the first time ever: Zhaohui Hong and Yi Sun, “The Butterfly Effect and the Making of Ping-Pong Diplomacy,” Journal of Contemporary China 9, no. 25 (2000): 429–48.
Chapter 45 | Nixon’s Game
recovering from a serious bout: Kissinger, White House Years, 739.
rose at 3:30 AM: Holdridge, Crossing the Divide, 53.
herself so high-ranking: Kissinger, White House Years, 793.
every line had a symbolic meaning: Boggan, Ping-Pong Oddity, chap. 15.
Lord secured his position: Author interview with Winston Lord, December 16, 2011.
toward the end of a ranging conversation: Richard Nixon, conversation, April 8, 1971, 9:18 AM to 10:07 AM, conversation no. 475-16B, www.nixontapes.org, http://bit.ly/fUyLIb.
I had never expected: David Davis, “Broken Promise,” Los Angeles Magazine, August 1, 2006.
screwed up all these back channel plans: Jan Berris, speech, Chinese Consulate, New York, NY, August 28, 2012.
learned to play Ping-Pong: Tyler, Great Wall, 91.
The last time the game: Steve Grant, Ping-Pong Fever, 28, quoting Waterloo Times-Tribune, May 23, 1902.
Be sure we get the tone: Richard Nixon, conversation, April 13, 1971, 10:16 AM to 10:21 AM, conversation no. 001-076, www.nixontapes.org.
US did not understand: NARA College Park, RG 59, SNF 1970–73, Entry 1613 POL CHINCOM US, Box 2188, National Archives, Washington, DC.
made big show of demonstrating: Ibid.
He facetiously told: Ibid.
Nixon was seeking reassurance: Richard Nixon, conversation, April 16, 1971, 11:22 PM to 11:27 PM, conversation no. 001-119, www.nixontapes.org.
the Jane Fondas of the world: Lord, interview.
was overheard explaining that: NARA College Park, RG 59, SNF 1970–73, Entry 1613 POL CHINCOM US, Box 2188, National Archives.
a propaganda beating: “Agnew Sees China Visit as Propaganda Defeat for US,” Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1971.
veterans marched on Washington: Robbins, Against the Vietnam War, 31.
contact with the Chinese was finally reestablished: Kissinger, White House Years, 713.
anxiety that had dated: Ibid., 714.
reaffirms its willingness: Ibid.
the mystery man: Tyler, Great Wall, 107.
preferably at some location: Kissinger, White House Years, 725.
The first question: Winston Lord to Henry Kissinger, memo, July 29, 1971, National Security Archives, White House, Washington, DC.
You saw just throwing a Ping-Pong ball: MacMillan, Nixon and Mao, 198.
Chapter 46 | Political Ping-Pong
the lead item on television: Richard Nixon, conversation, April 14, 1971, 8:05 PM to 8:12 PM, conversation no. 001-091, www.nixontapes.org.
As Nixon would soon write: MacMillan, Nixon and Mao, 262.
You would get the Taiwan seat now: Chang and Halliday, Mao, 604.
It is extremely difficult to capture: Henry Kissinger to Richard Nixon, memo, July 14, 1971, Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume E-13, Documents on China, 1969–1972, Document 9, http://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76ve13/d9.
“With this move by the Chairman”: MacMillan, Nixon and Mao, 203.
In his mother’s house: Author interview with William Cunningham, May 23, 2012.
exquisite nerve twitching: Department of State, telegram, April 14, 1971, NARA RG59, Entry 1613 CUL 16 US Box 382-20120924-1071, National Archive, Washington, DC.
threw the barber out of his office: Armin Meyer, interview by William Cunningham, May 18, 2006, William J. Cunningham Papers.
Nixon’s tiny loop: Herbert Levin, interview by William Cunningham, May 13, 2006, transcript, William J. Cunningham Papers.
tons of equipment: MacMillan, Nixon and Mao, 208.
State Department’s official record: McGregor, The Party, 20.
rat running across the street: Tyler, Great Wall, 57.
Hoxha, Albania’s dictator: MacMillan, Nixon and Mao, 158.
“I saw you were right”: Tyler, Gr
eat Wall, 133.
Later that night he confided: MacMillan, Nixon and Mao, 284.
had played a huge role: Speech, August 28, 2012, Chinese Consulate, New York, NY.
an instrument of subversion: Shih Pen-shan (as told to Lester Velie), “I Fought in Red China’s Sports War,” Reader’s Digest, June 1967.
Chapter 47 | Return Game
pulled out a piece of paper: Author interview with Marcia Burick, March 28, 2011.
Bandit Table Tennis: Department of State, telegram, April 13, 1971, NARA RG59, National Archives, Washington, DC.
attention-seeking projects: Carl McIntire, “What Is the Difference between Capitalism and Communism?” http://www.carlmcintire.org/booklets-capitalismVcommunism.php.
had been given a list of talking points: Department of State to Henry Kissinger, memo, April 20, 1971, NARA RG59, National Archives, Washington, DC.
not the turn for the officials: Author interview with Zheng Mingzhi, November 2011.
a brassy version: English-language CCTV documentary, Central Newsreel and Documentary Film Studio, People’s Republic of China, September 1972.
professor from Columbia: Jose Yglesias, “Chinese Ping-Pong Players vs. the Press: Love All,” New York Times, May 14, 1972.
check for explosive devices: “Detroit Gives Subdued Welcome to China’s Table Tennis Team,” Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1972.
Each member of the Chinese delegation: Ruth Eckstein, “Ping Pong Diplomacy: A View from Behind the Scenes,” report, April 16, 1990, William J. Cunningham Papers.
kind of awkward: Author interview with Perry Link, April 19, 2011.
everyone carried a gun: Author interview with Li Furong, May 2011.
of the American consumer society: “Detroit Gives Subdued Welcome to China’s Table Tennis Team.”
combination of different people: Author interview with Liang Geliang, May 5, 2011.
extraordinarily quick to feel condescension: Link, interview.
an act of “coldness”: Eckstein, “Ping Pong Diplomacy.”
Don’t you find it ironic: Yglesias, “Chinese Ping-Pong Players vs. the Press: Love All.”
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