Kissinger's visit to China was rare and irritating, and the United States said it was the first time it had encountered this opponent.
On April 4, 1971, a bus carrying the Chinese table tennis team was in a solemn and awkward atmosphere. Surprisingly, there was an American sitting in the front row of the bus.
The American tried to communicate with the Chinese players, but no one responded to him. The atmosphere was solemn, as if there was an invisible wall separating the two sides. However, Zhuang Zedong, a player of the Chinese team, stood up and boldly walked forward despite the dissuasion of his teammates.
His courage stems from a quote he said to *** last year: "The people of China and the United States can be friends." This bold move ultimately changed the direction of the world.
On April 4, 1971, there was an accident that changed the course of the world: Cohen, an American player who participated in the 31st World Table Tennis Championships, was in a hurry to go to the competition venue and mistakenly boarded the bus of the Chinese team.
The players of the Chinese team are extremely vigilant because the two countries have not yet established diplomatic relations, and Cohen took the initiative to talk to the Chinese players, but was responded by silence. However, a Chinese player named Zhuang Zedong couldn't stand it, stepped forward and took the initiative to greet him with a smile, and said: "Although your country has no contact with China, I believe that the Chinese and American people can become friends." ”
This scene happened to be seen by a nearby news reporter, and the Chinese and American athletes were privately friendly despite the official hostility, which attracted widespread attention and thinking.
After Cohen returned to report the matter to the team, the US delegation was surprised and delighted, and they realized that the Chinese could be contacted, and it turned out that the US officials at that time believed that there was no need for the diplomatic relations between China and the United States to continue such a stalemate, and that they could go in a new direction.
To put it simply, the Americans want to normalize relations with China, but 20 years of isolation have left the two sides without any platform to communicate and engage privately. And now, isn't the interaction between the two players just an opportunity to communicate?
So, the U.S. side asked Cohen to give back an American team jersey to Zhuang Zedong. Rewritten Copy: On April 4, 1971, an unexpected event occurred that changed the course of world history.
American player Cohen was in a hurry to go to the competition venue and mistakenly boarded the bus of the Chinese team. The players of the Chinese team are extremely vigilant because the two countries have not yet established diplomatic relations, and Cohen took the initiative to talk to the Chinese players, but was responded by silence.
However, a Chinese player named Zhuang Zedong couldn't stand it, stepped forward and took the initiative to greet him with a smile, and said: "Although your country has no contact with China, I believe that the Chinese and American people can become friends." ”
This scene happened to be seen by a nearby news reporter, and the Chinese and American athletes were privately friendly despite the official hostility, which attracted widespread attention and thinking.
1.In the face of the Chinese delegation's confusion, Zhuang Zedong's interaction with Cohen and the overtures of the US side brought Sino-US relations to a historic step. ** Immediately decide to invite the U.S. table tennis team to visit China, this matter must be done quickly, otherwise it will be too late.
On April 10, 1971, the U.S. table tennis team visited New China. ** said that the visit has opened the door to friendly exchanges between the two peoples, which means that China is willing to be friends with the United States.
After the departure of the U.S. table tennis team, the delighted U.S. **Nixon sent Kissinger to visit China secretly, and the diplomacy between China and the United States moved to a new situation because of a small table tennis.
2.In preparation for the live broadcast before Nixon's arrival in China, Kissinger made a secret visit to China on July 9, 1971. **Assigned Xiong Xianghui as an assistant to the prime minister to attend talks with the U.S. side.
Xiong Xianghui was an ace spy lurking around Hu Zongnan before the founding of New China, and made great contributions to our party and the people's army. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, this red ** devoted himself to diplomatic work.
After many talks, the two countries officially announced to the world on July 15 that Nixon would visit China the following year, a news that shook the world.
In January 1972, the U.S. delegation came to Huawei to prepare for Nixon**'s visit to China. White House spokesman Ziegler hopes that China will provide the United States and his entourage with the convenience of live broadcasting.
He said that almost every home in the United States has a television, and hundreds of millions of American people are looking forward to seeing the live situation of **'s visit to China through television. However, China's communications satellites and live broadcasts were not ripe at that time, and in some places there was no electricity.
Therefore, some people believe that the United States is deliberately making things difficult for China in order to gain an advantage in the negotiations. However, the Prime Minister saw the opportunity presented by live broadcasting. Prior to this, New China had been isolated from the rest of the world for a long time, and the people of Western countries knew little about China, but instead regarded China as a barbaric and backward poor country.
This live broadcast is a good opportunity for China to show the world a civilized and friendly image, therefore, the prime minister decisively ordered that the task of live broadcast must be completed.
In order to improve efficiency, he sent his assistant Xiong Xianghui to take full charge of the matter and negotiate with the Americans on matters related to the leasing of communications satellites and the provision of broadcasting technology.
** Convinced that although China's economic situation was not ideal at the time, and renting a communications satellite would have cost a lot of money, it would definitely be worth it in the long run.
Third, ** expressed dissatisfaction with Xiong Xianghui's decision, after Xiong Xianghui arrived, the US Ziegler had long been prepared, and he knew that the Chinese did not have their own communication satellites.
So Ziegler told him: "During your visit, the rent of the satellite may cost $1 million. However, you don't need to worry about the rent, we have prepared a complete satellite terminal equipment, and we will cover the cost of the period.
Your country only needs to build corresponding ground facilities in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and other places. Xiong Xianghui was moved after hearing this, he felt that this was both cost-effective and convenient, and the Chinese side only needed to contribute manpower and a small amount of money, which was a fairly cost-effective deal.
You must know that China's foreign exchange reserves at that time were only about $37 million, and this $1 million was not a small amount. As a result, Xiong agreed that the Americans would take care of the technical aspects, while China would only pay a symbolic amount of the cost of building the ground works.
However, when Xiong Xianghui happily reported the matter to ***, the always gentle *** was furious after hearing it and criticized him fiercely.
Xiong Xianghui was stunned for a moment, he didn't understand what he had done wrong. Isn't it a good thing that he thinks that the country is in a difficult situation right now, and that he has saved a lot of money for the country?
** To him: "A million dollars will make you compromise?" Do you think it's about money? No, this is a question of sovereignty of our country! You can't be vague about the question. ”
After Xiong Xianghui heard this, he realized his mistake, and he thought about the problem too simply. The fact that the Americans have built satellite ground stations on Chinese territory and also use their own satellites in China's airspace is a serious violation of China's sovereignty.
In addition, in the process of exchanges between major countries, a small detail can affect the judgment of countries around the world, let alone China and the United States, and the trend of the relationship between the two countries has always been concerned by the whole world.
This time, China agreed to the live broadcast in order to show the world the good side of China, but if other countries know that the satellite terminals, ground equipment, and technology behind the live broadcast are all handled by the Americans, those Western countries that do not understand China will definitely despise China and even doubt the dominance of China-US foreign affairs.
** added: "You go and tell Ziegler, first ask him to rent a third-party communications satellite for China**; Secondly, during the lease period, China** fully enjoys the ownership of the satellite, and if the United States wants to use it, it needs to apply for the right to use it from China** and pay a certain fee; Finally, the cost of the lease must be reasonable, and we will not make a big mistake. ”
After Xiong Xianghui conveyed his opinion to Ziegler, the other party was very shocked, but he also admired China's shrewdness and determination to protect the dignity of the motherland.
Through the efforts of both sides, China and the United States have successfully resolved this matter. The American side provided drawings of the equipment and sent specialists to assist in the installation of the equipment. The Chinese side built the satellite station in less than a month.
In the end, the Chinese side only had to pay about $600,000 for the lease of the satellite, which was much lower than the initial estimate of $1 million. At the same time, the U.S. side paid more than $500,000 to China** for the use.
This incident was satisfactorily resolved while safeguarding the sovereignty and dignity of our country.