Ping Pong Diplomacy’s 50-year Legacy: The Courtside View with Jan Berris

<p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style= "font-family: Franklin Gothic Book, serif;">On April 12, 1972, the Chinese national ping pong team arrived in Detroit, the first unofficial visitors from the People’s Republic of China to the United States since the establishment of the PRC in 1949. One of the many excited people waiting on the tarmac to welcome the team was</span></span> <span style="color: #000000;"><span style= "font-family: Franklin Gothic Book, serif;"><strong>Jan Berris</strong></span></span> <span style= "color: #000000;"><span style= "font-family: Franklin Gothic Book, serif;">– at that time a program associate with the National Committee, now its vice president.</span></span></p> <p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style= "font-family: Franklin Gothic Book, serif;">Fifty years later, on</span></span> <span style="color: #000000;"><span style= "font-family: Franklin Gothic Book, serif;"><strong>April 12, 2022</strong></span></span><span style= "color: #000000;"><span style= "font-family: Franklin Gothic Book, serif;">, Jan Berris shared stories of the historic process – from the funny to the momentous – and reflected on the enduring legacy of Ping Pong Diplomacy on U.S.-China relations.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style= "font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #000000;"><span style= "font-family: Franklin Gothic Book, serif;"><span style= "font-size: small;"><strong>Jan Berris</strong></span></span></span><span style= "color: #000000;"><span style= "font-family: Franklin Gothic Book, serif;"><span style= "font-size: small;"> has been with the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations since 1971 – beginning as program associate, moving on to program director, and vice president. She is responsible for overseeing all program activities of the Committee: this includes the preparation and execution of hundreds of Chinese delegations to the United States, American delegations to China, as well as NCUSCR’s Track II programs, and other flagship p