CPAFFC President Lin Songtian delivers video speech marking 50th anniversary of Ping-Pong Diplomacy

Zeng Guangming

O n Aug 26， a seminar commemorating the 50th anniversary of PingPong Diplomacy was held in Nagoya， Japan. CPAFFC President Lin Songtian delivered a video speech at the event. More than 300 people attended the seminar online or offline， including Kong Xuanyou， Chinese ambassador to Japan； Liu Xiaojun， Chinese consul in Nagoya； Kondo Shoichi， secretarygeneral of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians’ Union； Hirosawa Ichiro， vice-mayor of Nagoya； Okazaki Yutaka， chairman of the Japan-China Friendship Association； a public welfare society； Goto Yasuyuki， president of the Japan-China Friendship Association of Aichi Prefecture； representatives of athletes of the 31st World Table Tennis Championships； and scholars and youth representatives from China and Japan.

Lin noted that China and Japan are important neighbors. In the history of friendly exchanges for more than 2，000 years， there were many stories of friendship between the two peoples， with Ping-Pong Diplomacy being a unique chapter.

“A small ping-pong ball moving the globe ahead” is a well-known metaphor referring to table tennis as a diplomatic tool to open up a new chapter in people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States and between China and Japan. It has laid a sound foundation of public support for the improvement of ChinaUS relations and the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic ties.

Lin said that after 50 years， in order to maintain its hegemony， the US has coerced its allies to contain， suppress and smear China in an attempt to hold back China’s development. At present， the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century， but peace and development remain the themes of our times. Mankind is a community with a shared future. The aspirations of people around the world for peace， friendship， cooperation and development has not changed and will not change， he added.

Lin said the 21st century is the century of Asia. Peace between China and Japan will bring peace to Asia， and if Asia is at peace， the world will prosper. The association is willing to work with friends from all walks of life in China and Japan to take the 50th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral diplomatic relations as a new starting point. We will uphold the faith of everlasting China-Japan friendship and carry forward the spirit of Ping-Pong Diplomacy and the tradition of people-topeople friendship， take history as a mirror， create the future and make new and greater contributions to the steady and sustainable development of China-Japan relations and the joint maintenance of peace and prosperity in Asia， he said.

The seminar was organized by the Chinese consulate in Nagoya and the Japan-China Friendship Association of Aichi Prefecture， with support from the CPAFFC.