Table tennis was very much to the fore on Saturday 7th March 2009 at the second session of the 11th National People’s Congress in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Chinese Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechi, highlighted table tennis as one of his hobbies at the press conference held prior to the opening.
The philosophy of Ping Pong Diplomacy would seem to reapear time and time again; the 40mm ball may be small but as a peacemaker it is gigantic.
Striking Quality
“What struck you the most in your interaction with foreign counterparts in order to gain the approval of the international community?” was the question put forward by the Xinhua News Agency.
“I find that one thing they do share is that, besides their focus on diplomatic work, they also have their own hobbies”, was the reply from Yang Jiechi who, in the past one year, had frequent contacts with his foreign counterparts and had learned a lot from them.
Keeping Fit
“For instance, when I became foreign minister, some former foreign ministers told me that they had been relying on their table tennis rackets all through the year to keep fit and have enough energy”, continued Yang Jiechi. “Well, you know that I like playing table tennis and a couple of days ago, I won a few games in a match against a player that was supposed to be better than me, so I am in very good spirits today!”
The comments caused a great deal of laughter from the assembled journalists.
Determination
“Frankly, I am a person who wants to win and don’t accept easy defeat”, continued Yang Jiechi. “I think this helped a lot in fulfilling my diplomatic work, although I know objective judgment is always needed.”
Actually, at the end of 2007, Yang Jiechi and British ambassador William Ehrman tested their table tennis skills with Chinese legend Deng Yaping at the ministry’s building on a public open day.
Source: www.ittf.com
