Gotō Goes to China

Abstract

China was interested in participating in the thirty-first World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, March–April 1971 (the “Nagoya World’s”), in order to make a comeback in the international table tennis scene, after having waged the brutal and devastating Cultural Revolution for nearly five years. In turn, Japan Table Tennis Association (JTTA) president Gotō Kōji decided to invite China—the three-time-consecutive world champion from 1961 to 1965—to the Nagoya World’s despite the strong opposition from various circles both at home and abroad. Thus, the interests of both sides converged, and Gotō visited Beijing in January 1971 in order to work out the terms of China’s participation. Nevertheless, the negotiations between Gotō and the Chinese officials proved to be extremely difficult because of the “two Chinas” issue.