How Rugby, Ping-Pong and Other Sports Have Mended Political Rifts体育弥合政治裂痕

霍莉·闫

Never mind high-pressure peace talks that fail amid the looming threat of warfare. Try wrestling or ping-pong diplomacy instead. 戰争威胁步步逼近，多重压力下的和平谈判以失败告终——没关系，不妨试试“摔跤外交”或“乒乓外交”吧！

In January 2018， North Korean and South Korean officials sat down for high-level talks to discuss the North’s participation in the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. The historic talks were seen as a clear sign of thawing tensions between the two nations. One month later， North and South Korean athletes paraded together at the opening ceremony of Pyeongchang Winter Games. It is the first time in post-war Olympic history that a country has hosted a team from a nation with which it is officially at war. Analysts were cautiously optimistic about whether it would lead to better political relations.

Here are several examples of sports diplomacy success stories：

Ping-pong diplomacy

In the 1970s， the Cold War was even icier than the Winter Olympics. But a Chinese ping-pong player’s chance meeting with an American player on a bus got the ball rolling1 for formal Chinese-US diplomatic ties.

It started at a 1971 tournament in Japan. American teenager Glenn Cowan missed his team’s bus and hopped on the Chinese team’s bus instead.

After much hesitation， Chinese player Zhuang struck up a conversation through a translator—a brave act， given the political constraints of the time.

“We were all tense，” Zhuang told CNN in 2008. “Our team had been advised not to speak to Americans， not to shake their hands， and not to exchange gifts with them.

“I looked at him， thinking， ‘he is not the one who makes national policies， he is just an athlete， an ordinary American.’”

Zhuang gave the long-haired American a silk brocade2 as a gift. The next day， Cowan gave him a T-shirt with a peace sign and the words “LET IT BE3.”

Photos of their encounter were widely publicized. And before long， Chairman Mao Zedong invited the US team to visit and play friendly matches in China.

The next year， US President Richard Nixon visited China—ultimately leading to the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries in 1979.

Pin-down diplomacy

Similar to ping-pong diplomacy， “pin-down diplomacy” between US and Iranian wrestlers “has been instrumental in changing perceptions about Iranian and American society， and building bridges between sports communities and ordinary citizens，” the think-tank Atlantic Council said.

But wrestlers had to grapple with political upheaval in 2017， after the Trump administration announced a travel ban against people from seven Muslim-majority countries—including Iran.

Iran， in retaliation， denied visas for the American wrestlers planning to compete in the freestyle wrestling World Cup in Iran.

But after US courts halted the ban， the visas were finally granted.

“[The Iranian] Wrestling Federation lobbied on our behalf， and I think their government as well looked at it as an opportunity to show their graciousness and their respect for the sport of wrestling，” US head coach Bill Zadick said.

“A World Cup without the Americans would not have been a real World Cup，” said Rasoul Khadem， head of the Iran Wrestling Federation.

The respect between the US and Iranian wrestlers was obvious.

“I have been wrestling overseas for three years now， and every Iranian I have ever come in contact with has been extremely respectful， extremely polite，” US Olympic gold medalist Kyle Snyder said during a training session.

“（While） there’s a little bit of turmoil politically， you definitely don’t see that within the sport. We respect each other as competitors and as people，” Snyder said.

Rugby diplomacy

In 1994， black South Africans—reeling from4 decades of apartheid—largely hated rugby. It was a sport played by white men—the race of their longtime oppressors.

So newly elected President Nelson Mandela decided to employ rugby star Francois Pienaar to help mend deep racial divides.

John Carlin， author of “Playing the Enemy，” said Mandela used the Rugby World Cup final to win over parts of the population who had largely supported his 27-year imprisonment—and who had threatened to push South Africa into a civil war under the country’s first black leader.

Mandela called Pienaar for a meeting before the 1995 World Cup in South Africa.

“I can’t tell you how nervous I was，” Pienaar said. “I didn’t know what he was going to ask me. I wondered： ‘Why does he want to see me？ What am I going to say？’”

At the World Cup final， Pienaar delivered an eloquent tribute to Mandela.

And Mandela walked onto the stadium field to shake the hands of players， wearing the green cap and uniform of the South African national team. Pienaar’s number was on his jersey.

When the crowd first saw Mandela， they seemed “to go dead still，” Carlin said. Then they started chanting something unexpected： “Nelson！ Nelson！”

If this plotline sounds like it would make a great Hollywood movie， it did. Clint Eastwood directed the 2009 movie “Invictus，” starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar.

Beyond hard power

The term “Hockey diplomacy” reflects the series of 8 ice hockey matches between Canada and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in year 1972， during the Cold War. Again， relations between two states with different political regimes were improved. Other notable examples include Greece-Turkey’s basketball diplomacy， India-Pakistan’s cricket diplomacy and the Israel-Palestine football team for peace5.

The Olympic flame is part of the symbol of the Olympic Truce， the ancient Greek tradition of a temporary peace between warring states competing at the Games.

How appropriate.

.

2018年1月，朝鲜和韩国的政府官员展开高层会谈，讨论朝鲜参加即将开幕的韩国平昌冬季奥林匹克运动会的相关事宜。外界把这次历史性的会谈看作是两国紧张局势缓和的明显标志。一个月后的平昌冬奥会开幕式上，朝韩体育代表团共同入场。一个国家接待对战国家的体育团队，这在二战后的奥林匹克史上还属首次。至于两国的政治关系是否从此得到改善，分析家们持谨慎乐观态度。

下面我们就来看看几个体育外交的成功先例：

乒乓外交

20世纪70年代，“冷战”格局下的国际政治氛围甚至比冬奥会期间的气温还让人感到寒冷，而一位中国乒乓球运动员和一位美国运动员在大巴车上的偶然相遇却启动了中美建立正式外交关系的进程。

事情发生在1971年日本举办的世界乒乓球锦标赛期间。美国少年运动员格伦·科恩因为错过自己国家队的大巴，就上了中国队的大巴。

车上有位叫庄则栋的中国运动员，一番犹豫后，还是主动上前，在翻译人员的帮助下，和科恩聊了起来。鉴于那时候政治上的限制，庄则栋主动和美国人说话，可以算是非常勇敢的举动了。

“当时车上所有人都很紧张。”庄则栋2008年接受美国有线电视新闻网采访时说，“中国运动员们先前受到告诫，不要和美国人说话，不要和他们握手，不要和他们交换礼物。

“但我看着科恩，心想：‘他又不是制定国家政策的人，他只是个体育运动员，一个普通的美国人而已。’”

庄则栋把一条丝绸织锦作为礼物赠与这位长发美国人，第二天，科恩送给了庄则栋一件印有和平标志和LET IT BE字样的T恤。

一时间，媒体上到处是他们的合影照片。不久后，毛主席便邀请美国乒乓球队到中国进行友谊比赛。

次年，美国总统理查德·尼克松访华，这次来访最终促成了中美两国在1979年正式建立外交关系。

摔跤外交

与“乒乓外交”相似，美国和伊朗两国的摔跤运动员上演了“摔跤外交”。按美国智库大西洋理事会的话说，“‘摔跤外交’有助于改变人们对伊朗社会和美国社会的看法，有助于在体育界和普通民众之间架起沟通的桥梁。”

但就在2017年，摔跤运动员们不得不面对政治动荡引起的麻烦，起因是特朗普政府发布旅游禁令，禁止穆斯林占人口多数的七个国家（包括伊朗）的公民入境美国。

作为报复，伊朗政府拒绝为将去伊朗参加2017年自由式摔跤世界杯大赛的美国运动员发放签证。

后来美国法院停止执行禁令，伊朗政府最终发了签证。

“伊朗摔跤联合会为我们尽力游说，我想，伊朗政府也希望借此机会展示他们的仁善之心，表达对摔跤这项体育运动的尊重。”美国国家摔跤队主教练比尔·扎迪克说。

“沒有美国队参加的世界杯赛事就不算是真正的世界杯。”伊朗摔跤联合会会长拉苏尔·卡德姆说道。

美伊两国摔跤运动员相互尊重，这一点显而易见。

“三年来，我一直在国外搞摔跤，接触到的每一位伊朗人都很谦和有礼。”一次训练时，奥运会金牌获得者、美国摔跤运动员凯尔·斯奈德说。

“虽然两国偶尔出现政治摩擦，但这绝不会影响到摔跤运动本身，我们是竞技者，是实实在在的人，彼此尊重。”斯奈德说。

橄榄球联谊

1994年，那时候的南非黑人对英式橄榄球这项体育运动普遍很反感，几十年的种族隔离制度让他们痛苦不堪，而橄榄球是白人的游戏，南非黑人长期以来所受的压迫正是来自于白人。

当时新当选的南非总统纳尔逊·曼德拉决定请橄榄球球星弗朗索瓦·皮纳尔帮忙弥合严重的种族分裂。

《化敌为友》一书的作者约翰·卡林说，曼德拉利用橄榄球世界杯的决赛赛场征服了一部分他曾经的敌人——大部分南非人当初都支持对曼德拉27年的监禁，还曾威胁说要把他这位南非首任黑人总统治下的国家推入内战。

1995年南非橄榄球世界杯开赛前，曼德拉接见了皮纳尔。

“真是无法形容当时紧张的心情。”皮纳尔说，“我不知道他要我做什么事情，心里嘀咕着：‘他为什么要见我？我该说些什么？’”

在那届橄榄球世界杯的决赛赛场上，皮纳尔带领南非队奇迹般夺冠，以此向曼德拉致敬。

曼德拉走进比赛场地，和球员们一一握手。他身着南非国家橄榄球队的绿色队服，头戴球队绿色帽子，运动衫上的队员编号和皮纳尔的相同。

观众起初看到曼德拉时，似乎变得“死一般地静默”，卡林说。然后出乎意料的是，人们开始一声接一声喊他的名字：“纳尔逊！纳尔逊！”

这样的故事情节听起来是不是足以拍一部好莱坞大片了？它确实被搬上了银幕，这就是2009年由美国导演克林特·伊斯特伍德执导的影片《成事在人》，片中，摩根·弗里曼饰演纳尔逊·曼德拉，马特·达蒙饰演弗朗索瓦·皮纳尔。

超越政治硬实力

“冰球外交”一词指的是在“冷战”时期的1972年加拿大和苏联之间展开的连续八场冰球比赛，又一次，两个不同政治体制国家的关系通过体育运动得到了改善。其他几个值得关注的例子还包括：希腊和土耳其的篮球外交、印度和巴基斯坦的板球外交以及由以色列球员和巴勒斯坦球员组成的和平足球队。

始于古希腊的奥林匹克休战原则规定，交战国家在参加奥运会期间必须暂时停战，而奥运圣火正是该原则的部分象征。

真是再合适不过了。