Description

A footage using 9 seconds from the famous comedy Forrest Gump (1994) directed by Robert Zemeckis. The scene of two table tennis players, also representative of two great powers in a significant diplomatic development, based on a real historical event in Beijing 1972. Before that, in the 1971 World Table Tennis Championship held in Nagoya (Japan), Chinese and American teams met in one round by accident. With true sportsmanship, the athletes from both teams still gave each other friendly encouragement and promised to meet again one day, despite intense conflicts between the two countries. Henry Kissinger along with his politicians seized this opportunity to advance a meeting between American and Chinese table tennis players in Beijing when Mao Zedong also gave a green light for this diplomatic opportunity. The event was held successfully, then soon followed by a summit between President Nixon, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai. Among the most important points of discussion in the summit was related to the Vietnam War. The initial impacts it brought about is the significant decline in military aid from China for Northern Vietnam, especially when compared to the aid packages in the previous years. At the end of that year, the United States confidently bombed the B52 in the LineBacker II Campaign with the statement that it would bring Northern Vietnam back to the Stone Age. After that, the two sides went into a negotiation that led to the 1972 Paris Peace Accords.

Description is excerpted from "Every Bilious Honeymoon", 2022.