51st anniversary of Ping-Pong Diplomacy marked in Los Angeles

A gala was held at Pacific Palms Resort in Los Angeles County Tuesday evening to commemorate the 51st anniversary of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy between China and the United States.

The event, jointly organized by the USA Table Tennis, Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, and the All American Chinese Association, attracted more than 500 Chinese and American officials, athletes as well as international sports leaders and representatives from local Chinese communities.

"Now, 51 years have passed since the U.S. Ping Pong team made its first visit to China. Over the past five decades, despite the ups and downs in the bilateral relations, the spirit of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy has been kept alive and exchanges and interactions between our two peoples remain robust," said Zhang Ping, consul general of China in Los Angeles, in his speech.

Zhang pointed out that the Chinese Table Tennis Association has maintained close contact with its U.S. counterpart, recalling that the two countries' players teamed up in the mixed doubles in the World Championships in Houston last year.

"The story of Ping-Pong Diplomacy illustrates the fact that our two countries can rise above the differences and work together for the common interests, and the two people can come together and forge genuine friendship. It inspires us to work harder to move China-U.S. relations forward by promoting more exchanges and cooperation and better understanding and greater friendship between our two countries and peoples," Zhang noted.

Gene Sykes, chair of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, stressed the friendship between the United States and China that has experienced through sports is "something that puts our people together."

The former CEO of the Los Angeles 2028 organizing committee welcome athletes from all around the world to take part in the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.

"We share with China, the experience of being host of the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. And in fact, one of the stories that I think many of us in Los Angeles understand is that China helped save the 1984 games for Los Angeles when China agreed to attend the games and bring their team, they made these games truly a global experience, and very, very exciting, and frankly, made a difference in all of the Olympic movement," he added.

Virginia Sung, chief executive officer of the USA Table Tennis, said the gala is one of the seven Ping-Pong Diplomacy commemorative events that took place across America this year.

"As we celebrate the 51st anniversary of Ping-Pong diplomacy, we are reminded of enduring values of friendship and sportsmanship," she noted, adding that the ping pong sport can be a platform that brings people together.

Petra Sorling, president of the International Table Tennis Federation, echoed in her speech that "the spirit of the Ping-Pong Diplomacy is in the DNA of table tennis" and "it's a platform to create dialogue and build friendship."