Ping-Pong Diplomacy

by Nicholas Griffin

  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.”