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Reza Bahar - Table Tennis Enthusiast
A dedicated member of both local and national table tennis organizations, Mr. Reza Bahar views table tennis as the ideal bridge between cultures, allowing for increased communication, understanding, and sensitivity. As an example, Reza Bahar points to the 1970s’ “ping pong diplomacy,” which thawed relations between the United States and China, paving the way for President Nixon’s visit to Beijing. As Reza Bahar explains, the exchange of players between the United States and China gave rise to the world’s current economic climate in which Chinese and American economies are mutually supportive and prosperous. Without table tennis, China may not have assumed the political and economic power that it now wields.
Through the International Table Tennis Federation, Reza Bahar studies the history of table tennis, especially in 19th century Europe. Reza Bahar focuses on new applications for table tennis to promote future diplomacy following its enormous success during President Nixon’s administration and sees the sport as a way to promote diplomacy between Israel and Palestine.
In his limited spare time, Reza Bahar teaches free table tennis seminars within his local community. Reza Bahar enjoys watching films, especially those of Swedish director, writer, and producer Ingmar Bergman. An active philanthropist, Reza Bahar supports the American Heart Association.
Reza Bahar's Affiliations
Reza Bahar's Publications
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Ping-Pong Diplomacy, Reza Bahar
November, 2010
By: Reza Bahar
In the political culture of the 1970s, relations were strained between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. First, the United States had refused to formally recognize the People’s Republic of China for 30 years after its founding. Then the Korean War seemed to end all hope of normal relations between the two countries when they found themselves on different sides of the conflict. The Vietnam War further escalated tensions, and relations froze until 1970. No American sports delegation had set foot in China since 1949. In fact, the country allowed very few Americans in during the years of tension, although 11 Americans affiliated with the Black Panther Party gained admission to the country for one week, because China believed them to be enemies of the United States. In 1971, the U.S. table-tennis team received an invitation to come to China, making it the first sports team to visit China in more than 20 years. The invitation most likely came as a result of a meeting between U.S. table-tennis player Glenn Cowan and Chinese table-tennis player Zhuang Zedong in Nagoya, Japan, during the 31st World Table Tennis Championship. After missing the team bus, Cowan acquired an invitation from a Chinese team member onto the Chinese team bus, where he met Zhuang Zedong. The two exchanged gifts, and when the bus arrived at its destination, they disembarked together to the flash of reporters’ cameras. When asked by reporters if he wanted to visit China, Cowan replied, “Of course.” On April 10, 1971, the nine-player U.S. table-tennis team entered the Chinese mainland, where they played exhibition matches. In February 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon then visited China, and relations between the two countries began to thaw. Ping-pong diplomacy, as it has been termed, can serve as the impetus for future diplomatic breakthroughs as it did in the 1970s between the United States and China. If people encourage grassroots efforts to create table-tennis events throughout the Middle East and Asia, it could greatly help to thaw chilly relations between different countries. Richard Nixon summed it up best: “I had never expected that the China initiative would come to fruition in the form of a Ping-Pong team.”
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