Diplomatic Games: Sport, Statecraft, and International Relations since 1945

12. Politics First, Competition Second

385 12 Politics First, Competition Second sport and china’s foreign Diplomacy in the 1960s and 1970s Fan Hong and Lu Zhouxiang sport is not only a major form of human interaction but also one of the central ways in which a society reflects its ideology and identity, as well as its place in international politics and relations. This is particularly true in china, where sport has played an important role in the country’s political and diplomatic strategy since the early twentieth century. sport was seen by politicians as one of the most suitable vehicles for political diplomacy. it helped, for instance, to strengthen relationships with nations of the nonaligned movement (nam) and to establish the leadership of the people’s republic of china (prc) in the Third world. it also enabled china to both oppose western imperialists and to make approaches to those same diplomatic antagonists through a medium that benefitted from an apolitical image. sport served china’s political and diplomatic goals. This chapter focuses on chinese foreign policy toward and involvement with the nam and its relationship with and policy toward the two superpowers, the United states and the soviet Union, during the cold war. it will also examine some major sporting events—such as the 386 fan Hong and lu Zhouxiang fourth asian Games in 1962, the Games of the newly emerging forces (Ganefo) in 1964, the asian-african table tennis friendship invitational tournament in 1971, and the asian-african–latin american table tennis friendship invitational tournaments held between 1973 and 1980—and their influence on these relationships. moreover, the chapter analyzes the combination of internal and external factors that shaped chinese foreign policy and chinese sport in the 1960s and 1970s and argues that, from the very beginning, sport was used to serve the prc’s foreign policy, which focused on uniting the newly independent countries in asia, africa, and latin america to compete against the United states and the soviet Union. This policy helped china to establish its position as a leading power in the Third world and played a significant part in changing the political landscape of the world. in the 1970s, following changes to china’s foreign policy, sport was used by beijing to reengage with western countries—most significantly the United states—and to rebuild china’s image and influence in the Third world. several international sporting events held during this period played pivotal diplomatic roles in bringing china to the center stage of world politics. Chinese Foreign Policy toward the NAM in the 1960s and 1970s after world war ii, the awakening of nationalism that occurred within the colonies of western imperial powers in asia, africa, and latin america gave birth to many independent nation-states. indeed, fifty nations claimed independence in the 1940s and 1950s.1 These new countries were nationalistic and competitive, and their independence that resulted from the wave of postwar decolonization turned a new page in world politics and fundamentally altered the paradigm of international relations. The prc was a member of the socialist camp, and therefore chinese foreign policy in the 1950s concentrated primarily on strengthening the country’s relationship with the soviet Union. yet it also focused on supporting liberation movements in asia, africa, and latin america. beijing began to forge relationships with newly independent countries that had historical backgrounds similar to china’s and soon established foreign relations with some of the leading Third world countries in asia, including india (1950), Vietnam (1950), and indonesia (1951). The key milestone in the relationship between china and the newly independent countries in politics first, competition second 387 the Third world came in april 1955 when the asian-african conference was held in bandung, indonesia. The objective of the conference was to unite the newly independent countries in asia and africa to resist western colonial and imperialist powers and to pursue a more independent course of action in regional and global politics.2 The countries represented at the bandung conference were aggregately referred to as the newly emerging forces. Through its participation at the bandung conference, the prc established a close relationship with the newly emerging forces, especially indonesia.3 following the bandung conference, the first conference of the heads of state of nonaligned countries was held in belgrade in september 1961. it consolidated the unity of the newly emerging forces and led to the establishment of the nam in 1961. The aim...