Ping Pong Diplomacy: 50 years on

On 21 April 1971, fresh from the Table Tennis World Championships in Nagoya, Japan, an Australian table tennis delegation entered China in what would become a precursor to official diplomatic relations being established between Australia and China.

The delegation was made up of players Paul Pinkewich, Steve Knapp and Anne Middleton (née McMahon), Coach Noel Shorter and Australian Table Tennis Association (the former name of Table Tennis Australia) President Dr. John Jackson. Fifty years later, Table Tennis Australia Life Members Pinkewich, Knapp and Shorter met up to celebrate the anniversary of that trip and remember with pride their contribution to what was later dubbed the ‘Ping Pong Diplomacy’. 

Paul Pinkewich had a vivid recollection of how the team accepted the invitation to visit while they were training at Nichidai University, under Japanese table tennis legend Ichiro Ogimura.

“Mr Ogimura said to us that it would be a good idea to go and then come back to Japan to train with him after the tour. We had about two hours to get our gear and rush to the airport to get to Hong Kong.”

“We just packed our bags and got to Hong Kong as quickly as we could,” Knapp agreed. 

“John Jackson was already there and the next day we went together across the Lo Wu border into China.” 

In Lo Wu, just before they entered China, the Australian delegation met the American team, who had been invited just two weeks prior and were finishing up their own tour of the country.

“We had a fair idea of what we were getting ourselves into because we had lunch with the American team and they told us what to expect,” said Shorter. 

After leaving the colourful chaos of Hong Kong and Tokyo, China seemed peaceful and orderly. Knapp recalled that there were very few cars - everyone rode a bicycle and there was no noise or advertising.

“We came from Hong Kong, which was just chaotic and colourful, and then we got into China and everyone was wearing the same blue denim and little caps, waving little red books,” he said. 

Pinkewich, Knapp and Middleton got to play in stadiums full of people just wanting to watch table tennis. It was an amazing experience for the young Australian athletes, whose performances were broadcast live to a far reaching domestic audience through the only Chinese television station operating at the time.

“To have a full stadium of 18,000 people was unprecedented. Just before playing I asked the interpreter how many people would be watching on the TV and the interpreter said a billion people! I couldn’t even imagine that, so there was no point in getting nervous about it,” Knapp said. 

The exhibition matches had been organised to celebrate the two countries coming together through sport, so the Chinese players played along in a friendly atmosphere.

“It was a very daunting task for us because they were the best in the world, but for the Chinese it was friendship first, competition second,” Pinkewich said.

Thanks to the Chinese television’s live broadcasts, the Australian table tennis players quickly became celebrities in the eyes of the Chinese public. Each time they decided to go for a walk after a match, the group would soon be surrounded by thousands of people as they took to the streets of China. 

“At times they were looking at us like we were from Mars,” said Shorter. 

“I had red hair at the time and no one in China has red hair. Steve had long hair and Anne Middleton was wearing a mini skirt, which was a new experience for the ladies,” he said. 

After a successful round of matches, on May Day 1971, at the Great Hall of the People, the team had the honour of meeting Zhou Enlai, the Premier of the People’s Republic of China. 

“All of a sudden you have the Premier greeting us and shaking hands and everyone is looking at Steve’s long hair and Anne Middleton’s mini skirt,” said Pinkewich. 

Knapp clearly remembered his exchange with the Chinese Premier. “Zhou Enlai asked me, you have your hair long, is it a protest of some kind? And I said no, it is a fashion thing!” 

“Then he asked about the Vietnam War. Paul and I were close to being conscripted at that time and I just told him that we didn’t want to go to war,” said Knapp. 

Upon returning to Australia, the members of the delegation were again welcomed as celebrities, even in their own country. Sydney-based Pinkewich and Shorter were invited to a party at the Maltese Ambassador’s house and asked to bring the footage from their trip. 

“When we got there, we were introduced to Gough and Margaret Whitlam. After a while they took us into a small room, set up a camera and asked to see the film,” Shorter said.

“I was really surprised at the detailed questions that Whitlam was asking us. As it turns out, a few days later it was announced that he was going to China,” he said.

Just over two months after the groundbreaking Australian Table Tennis team visit, Gough Whitlam, then the Australian opposition leader, visited China. His trip was considered a key turning point in the relations between the two countries, which had been very tense up to that point.

The surviving members of that Australian team are still proud of the significance of that trip, glad to have contributed to bring two communities together through sport. 

Knapp and Pinkewich, who are both in the Table Tennis Australia Hall of Fame, played together for years and were part of the Australian team which rose to number 12 in the world in 1979, the highest ranking ever for an Australian team. They keep in touch with their former coach and regularly reconvene to talk about their experiences or like on this occasion, to celebrate important anniversaries. They hope that 50 years on, telling the story of their historical trip can teach the younger generation that sport can break down barriers and unite people.

“It was important for us to be seen as good ambassadors. But we were just normal people interested in playing sports. The fact that sport can promote peace and good will, that’s the way the world should approach everything,” said Pinkewich. 

“We are absolutely proud of what we did. We all contributed greatly, and I would like to think we did a good job in terms of representing Australia and Australians,” said Shorter.