Ping-pong diplomacy: Australian table tennis players return to China, five decades after historic tour

Ping-pong diplomacy: Australian table tennis players return to China, five decades after historic tour

Noel Shorter This week, two of the original members of Australia’s 1971 “ping-pong diplomacy” team are returning to Beijing to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. Half a century ago, few could foresee that a spur-of-the-moment, unscheduled visit by a young Australian sports team would lead to one of Australia’s most important – and sometimes turbulent – bilateral relations. Only weeks after the team’s headl…