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Ping Pong Diplomacy Although my work at Hang Seng Bank did not involve China until much later, I tried to keep up with developments in New China through the news. However, throughout the 1950s and 1960s most of my friends and relatives would avoid talking about politics when we met. We had little to discuss about Hong Kong since the colonial government set all the policies and there were no elections and few dissenting voices. If we talked about mainland China, any discussion would inevitably lead to heated debates, with some staunchly supporting the PRC, right or wrong; and the others, fiercely anti-communist, loudly condemning the mainland government. I harboured mixed feelings since I found it hard to accept the endless political campaigns on the Mainland, but on the other hand I took a certain pride in China’s industrialization and independence. I was especially careful not to talk about China during the monthly lunch or dinner gatherings among my King’s College classmates (class of 1942) since I knew that we all held different political views. I attended these gatherings mainly to stay in touch with my old friends, and we usually talked about harmless, typical stag-party topics such as food, wine, horse racing and women. Every now and then, however, someone would comment on the political situation on the Mainland and arguments would flare up. During these often heated debates, our classmate Tam Ting Kwong would speak calmly and eloquently, and kept on smiling in order to cool down the discussion. Since I knew that he was a staunch supporter of the mainland government, I always marvelled at his ability to remain calm and controlled in these situations. Sturdy and bespectacled, Tam excelled at school both academically and in sports; he led our class soccer team to many victories and was awarded a government scholarship in 1940. Our principal and teachers had high expectations of him, and his classmates loved him. After the Japanese invaded China in 1937, Tam’s interests took a different turn and he became one of the 5 New China 134 The Dragon and the Crown founding members of the Xingwu Society, which was dedicated to promoting national and social awareness among Hong Kong students. He also joined the K.C. Boys Chorus, which was formed after the Wuhan Ensemble performed in our school in 1938. Inspired by the ensemble’s performance and with the permission of our open-minded headmaster, Mr. Kay, the chorus sang patriotic anti-Japanese songs and often gave performances in school. Tam and I lost contact with each other during the war. When we met again in 1949, he was working for China Mutual Trading Company, which handled imports and exports in Hong Kong on behalf of the PRC Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade. During the Korean War, China Mutual Trading bought many Dodge trucks from Dodwell Motors (when I was working there) and smuggled them to the Mainland in violation of the UN embargo. Tam’s ties to China ran even deeper than his work since his elder brother, Tam Kon, was one of the earliest officials of the Xinhua News Agency (the unofficial representative of the PRC government in Hong Kong) and eventually became the head of foreign affairs within the agency. Tam Ting Kwong later changed his name to Tan Zhi Yuan and became a director of Tiantsu Weijing in Hong Kong. Tiantsu Weijing, which started as a Tianjin-based private company producing monosodium glutamate (weijing) under its own name, was converted into a state-owned enterprise after the communist takeover. During the 1950s the company expanded its Hong Kong operations to include the production of bleaches and dyes (for the colony’s booming textile industry), and later diversified into trading and real estate development. Tam and I stayed in touch with each other throughout his highly successful careers in both China Mutual Trading and Tiantsu Weijing. At the turn of the 1970s, China’s rigid ideological stance began to thaw although the Cultural Revolution had not yet ended. In April 1971, the PRC government launched its “Ping Pong Diplomacy” and invited the American ping pong team to visit the Mainland. This led to President Nixon’s milestone visit to China in 1972 and a détente in the US-China relationship which paved the way for the PRC to replace Taiwan (a.k.a. Republic of China) as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. I...

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