Thursday, March 1, 2012

Zhung Tse Tong and The Shanghai Communique

The Shanghai Communique, issued 40 years ago, was the official public announcement of US China relations. However, there were several events that paved the way for this historic change in US foreign policy. Ping Pong Diplomacy enthralls all.



http://china.org.cn/english/features/olympics/100660.htm

In Beijing, after a careful study of the reports from Nagoya, the Foreign Ministry held that in inviting Americans to China, first consideration should be given to influential journalists and politicians. In a report written jointly by the Foreign Ministry and the State Commission for Physical Culture and Sports on April 4, it was suggested that the Chinese table tennis delegation in Nagoya tell the American team that the time was not yet ripe for it to visit China. The report was sent to Zhou and Mao.

By then the Chinese and American table tennis players had come into contact on more than one occasion and exchanged souvenirs, which had made a sensation in the world press. The American players had expressed their wish to visit China.

Mao was well informed of what had happened in Nagoya. He decided to invite the American players immediately. On April 7, the Chinese delegation received a directive from home: "considering that the American team has made the request many times with friendly enthusiasm, it has been approved to invite it, including its leaders, to visit our country."

Upon receiving the invitation, Steenhoven immediately reported to the American ambassador to Japan. After reading the cable from Tokyo, Nixon decided at once that the American team should go to China, taking the invitation for the beginning of a long-awaited major diplomatic action.

On April 14, Zhou received the guest teams from the United States, Canada, Colombia and Nigeria at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. When talking with the American players, he said, "The Chinese and American people used to have frequent exchanges. Then came a long period of severance. Your visit has opened the door to friendship between the peoples of the two countries."





Richard Nixon's visit to China in February 1972 changed the course of history — reshaping the global balance of power and opening the door to the establishment of relations between the People's Republic and the United States.
1972年2月理查德•尼克松对中国的访问改变了历史的轨迹 - 它重新调整了全球势力的均衡,为中华人民共和国和美国两国间关系的建立打开了大门。

It was also a milestone in the history of journalism. Since the Communist revolution of 1949, a suspicious regime in Beijing had barred virtually all U.S. reporters from China. For the Nixon trip, however, the Chinese agreed to accept nearly 100 journalists, and to allow the most dramatic events — Nixon's arrival in Beijing, Zhou Enlai'swelcoming banquet, visits to the Great Wall and the Forbidden City — to be televised live.
这次访问同时也是新闻史上的一个里程碑。自1949年共产革命以来,对外界充满怀疑的北京政府将所有美国新闻记者拒之门外。然而为了尼克松中国之行,中方同意并接纳了10­0名新闻记者,并且允许电视现场直播尼克松中国之行中发生的重大事件 - 例如尼克松抵京,周恩来总理欢迎晚宴,总统参观长城和故宫。


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The coverage was arguably as important as the details of the diplomacy. It profoundly transformed American and international perceptions of a long-isolated China, generated the public support Nixon needed to change U.S. policy, and laid the groundwork for Beijing's gradual move to open China to greater international media coverage.
对总统之行的新闻报道可以说和这次外交之行的细节同等重要。它深刻地改变了美国以及国际社会对长期与外部世界隔离的中国的印象,为中国政府逐步对国际新闻媒体开放奠定了基­础。

While the outlines of the Nixon trip are familiar, the behind-the-scenes story of how that momentous event was covered is much less well-known. This segment of Assignment: China focuses on journalists who went with Nixon and includes interviews with those officials who sought to shape the coverage. The Week that Changed the World contains previously unreleased footage of the Nixon visit, as well as interviews with journalistic luminaries such as Dan Rather and Bernard Kalb of CBS, Ted Koppel and Tom Jarriel of ABC, Barbara Walters of NBC, Max Frankel of the New York Times, Stanley Karnow of the Washington Post, and many others.
尼克松中国之行虽然广为人知,这一历史事件是如何被报道的幕后故事却没有很多人了解。这一解析中国之旅的纪录片关注的是陪同尼克松中国之行的新闻记者,同时包含了对中美双­方试图影响新闻报道的官员的采访。改变世界的一周收纳了从未公布的尼克松中国之行的影像,以及对新闻界知名人物的访谈,如哥伦比亚广播公司的丹•拉瑟和伯纳德•卡尔布,美­国广播公司的伯纳德•卡尔布和汤姆•贾里尔,全国广播公司的芭芭拉•沃尔特斯,《纽约时报》的马克思•弗兰克尔,《华盛顿邮报》的卡史丹,以及其他知名记者。

Reported and narrated by U.S.-China Institute Senior Fellow Mike Chinoy, formerly CNN's Senior Asia Correspondent and Beijing Bureau Chief, and edited by USCI Multimedia Editor Craig Stubing, the film offers a fascinating and previously untold perspective on one of the most important historical moments of the 20th century. Clayton Dube conceived of the Assignment: China project and supervises it.
来自美中学院的资深学者,曾经担任哥伦比亚广播公司驻亚洲资深记者,北京分社社长的迈克·齐诺伊为该纪录片进行采访和解说。美中学院多媒体编辑克雷格·史达宾进行编辑。这­部纪录片通过一个全新独特的视角,为您呈现20世纪最为重要的历史事件之一。杜克雷是该纪录片的制片人,并且进行指导。
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Friendship First, Competition Second


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting history.

- Aangirfan