Ping-Pong Diplomacy chalks up 50 years

Bridging relations

Lehman said his father had a table tennis table at home and taught him how to play. He went on to represent his university team.

"Table tennis was a popular sport for kids when I was growing up and it has been a big part of my life," he said.

In 1972, one year after Ping-Pong Diplomacy was created, a Chinese table tennis delegation was invited to visit the US, and Lehman watched an exhibition match at the University of Maryland.

"I saw Zheng Minzhi, who was on the Chinese team at that match, and I'm excited to see that she's also here at the commemoration event today. I still have the program from that day," Lehman said.

He added that his passion for helping bridge relations between the two countries was triggered in 1998 during his first visit to China, where he met 10 professors from the US. At the time, Lehman was dean of the University of Michigan Law School.

The professors, who were all in their 90s, founded the Soochow University Law School in Shanghai early in the 20th century.

"Meeting those Americans, who spent a large part of their lives in the connection between China and the US, was very emotional for me. It made me think about how I wanted to live my life. I felt I was given this opportunity to act as a bridge between the US and China," Lehman said.

In 2008, he was invited to become founding dean of Peking University School of Transnational Law in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Four years later, he received calls from New York University and the Chinese government to serve as vice-chancellor of New York University Shanghai, which was still being established.

"I returned to Shanghai in 2012. Each year I'm here I feel more and more rooted to the city," the 64-year-old said, adding that there are table tennis tables at NYU Shanghai and he sometimes plays against faculty members.