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Ping-Pong Diplomacy (1971)
Ping-pong diplomacy refers to the use of table tennis exchanges to facilitate the rapprochement between the United States and the People's Republic of China in 1971. A US table tennis team competing in Japan was invited to China, becoming the first Americans officially hosted in the PRC since 1949. The exchanges led to Henry Kissinger's secret visit to Beijing in July 1971 and President Nixon's historic visit to China in February 1972.
Sino-Soviet split
The breakdown of relations between China and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 1960s, caused by ideological disagreements, border disputes, and competition for leadership of the communist world.