Asian-African-Latin American Table Tennis Friendship Invitational Tournment

Datec. 1975

Dimensions40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm)

ClassificationsPoster

Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection

Terms

Object numberPH.9697

DescriptionThis poster, by an unknown designer, documents an era of “Ping-Pong diplomacy,” highlighting the unity between three players of apparently different ethnic backgrounds.The first of five tournaments was held by this organization in Beijing, China in 1971 (when it was called the Afro-Asian Table Tennis Friendship Invitational Tournament, renamed with the title seen on the poster in 1973) and the last in 1980 in Tokyo, Japan. The April 1971 tournament, however, was distinguished by the presence of the American table tennis team, which had been invited to join the event while it was in Nagoya, Japan, in February for the World Table Tennis Championship. Time magazine later called this invitation, the first time a group of Americans had been formally invited to the People’s Republic of China since the Communist Cultural Revolution of 1949, “The ping heard around the world.” It reflected China’s interest in opening relations with the United States and ultimately with the rest of the world and served the U.S. government in its Cold War efforts to isolate Russia. The American visit led to President Nixon’s historic trip to China in February 1972, which resulted in the Shanghai Communiqué that provided a longstanding framework for the relationship between the two countries.

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