Storytelling is a great skill to have for relationships and for career progression. Everyday, we come across many story lines. Like many other skills, regardless of the natural talent, practice made perfect. Recently, I had a chance to practice writing a story and deliver a Toastmaster speech in my story to practice this skill.
History is among the best place to find stories. Recently, some major newspaper reports about the possibility of China invasion of Taiwan. The mindset of a reporter is unlikely in the same league as the China leadership who has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty. How many newspaper audience know the history enough to not fall into the pernicious influence of the press? This seems to be a good story line.
The transcript of my recent Toastmaster speech : the fable of US, China and Taiwan.
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The situation of China and Taiwan has been misunderstood by many. I don’t have time to share thousands of pages of history. In my own words, I want to tell the story of the 50 years between China, Taiwan and the United States.
Once upon a time, Taiwan has been part of China for many hundred years.
Fast forward to the early 20th century, a civil war broke out in China between the communist and non-communist parties. They fought and fought over 20 years, before world war II, and continued after. At the end, the communist party won and became the ruling party. The non-communist party did not surrender, they fled to Taiwan and “took control of” the island.
In the first thirty years under the communist party, China was poor, isolated and had few friends. On the other hand, Taiwan flourished. It had money, it had powerful friends including the United States.
By late 1960s, some visionary American politicians started thinking: it could be in the national interest to make friends with China, it would help us to fight the Soviets, and the huge China’s market of nearly one billion consumers would be so attractive to our business. Here is the problem? We are more enemies than friends with China, and they have different ideologies. It needs a special day.
That day came in 1971, top ping pong (table tennis) players gathered in Japan for the world championship. One day, after a practice, the American ping pong player Cowan, mistakenly got on the shuttle bus of the Chinese teams. In that era, the US and China were more enemies than friends. The Chinese grew up with the slogan “down with American imperialism”, while the US propaganda was anti-communism red scare . Cowan felt like an alien showed up on earth. First 5 minutes, the bus drove on, nothing happened, everyone was suspicious; another 5 minutes, the bus drove on, no-one came forward. Just before the bus arrived, a top Chinese player Zhuang came forward, extended his arm, shook hands with Cowan and gave him a gift. Cowan had nothing in his bag, other than a comb, and he did not want to give the comb. Cowan owed Zhuang a return gift. After the incident, the media asked Cowan: “Do you want to visit China?” Cowan and the US ping pong athletes became the first Americans to officially visit China since the communist takeover. So coined the “ping-pong diplomacy” . Three months later, Henry Kissinger, the secretary of state, was visiting Pakistan, he feigned illness for a day and took on a top-secret detour to China to meet the Chinese premier Mr. Zhou. Another few months later, President Nixon became the first US president to visit China.
By 1979, the United States formally transferred diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. The US acknowledged that there is one China and Taiwan is a part of China; and supported China in joining the United Nations, literally grabbing the UN representation of Taiwan and passing it to China.
The reverse of fortune took place in the years to follow. China has friends and money. It has full diplomatic relations with over 170 countries. Taiwan loses many “friends”, with only 13 small countries keeping their ties with Taiwan.
What is the moral of the story? In politics, there are no forever friends or foes, but the benefits of a relationship. And don’t judge based on just the current events in the news.
The story is going to continue with more twists and turns.
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oliviatamccue 