Ironically, the first international sporting event that Kosovo participates in since its declaration of independence is the 2008 World Team Table Tennis Championships (Feb. 24-Mar. 2) in Guangzhou, China. Kosovo has been a member of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) since 2003, and the Guangzhou tournament is its fourth appearance at the world championships. Some have conjured up memories of Ping-Pong diplomacy in 1971, when China's surprise invitation of the American table tennis team to visit the PRC signalled a thaw in Sino-American relations, and paved the way for Nixon's visit to China in 1972 and eventually the normalization of relations. However, the Kosovar team is unlikely to either facilitate a diplomatic breakthrough in securing China's recognition of Kosovo as an independent nation, or achieve success at the ping-pong tables. Its men's team is ranked no.114 and its women's team no.112 in the world. In contrast, the top-ranked Chinese host boasts the top 4 spots and 5 on the list of the top 10 male players, and the top 5 spots on the list of the top 10 woman players on the ITTF's most recent rankings on Feb. 4, 2008. Both Hong Kong and Taiwan also field teams in Division 1, while Macau competes in Division 4.
Because the PRC claims Taiwan as a province of China, and insists in its international relations on the One China principle and non-recognition of Taiwan (the Republic of China or ROC) as an independent country, Taiwan is forced to participate in international organizations and events, including the ITTF championships and the Olympic Games, under the name of Chinese Taipei. Even worse for Taiwan, countries wanting to have diplomatic ties with the PRC must sever relations with Taiwan. The number of countries recognizing Taiwan has been dwindling since 1971, when the PRC took the seat for China in the United Nations that had been occupied by the ROC. As the Chinese economy has been growing phenomenally in recent years, Taiwan's ability to buy and hold on to diplomatic relations with poor nations around the world through investment and assistance has been undermined by China's increasing success to compete with Taiwan through yuan diplomacy. The latest country to abandon Taiwan is Malawi, which cut ties with Taiwan after 41 years and established diplomatic relations with China on Dec. 27, 2008. Now only 23 countries, mostly small and impoverished nations in Latin America, Africa and the South Pacific, recognize Taiwan. Alas, Taiwan's effort to gain some diplomatic space by recognizing Kosovo has not been reciprocated, as least for the time being. Kosovo, for its part, does not include Taiwan on the list of nations that extended it recognition.
Attracting far more world attention than the Kosovar table tennis players competing in Guangzhou was the visit to North Korea by the New York Philharmonic from Feb. 25 to 27, an event that was compared to the Boston Symphony's tour of the Soviet Union in 1956 and the Philadelphia Orchestra's visit to China in 1973 during the era of Ping-pong diplomacy. The New York Philhamonic received a mysterious invitation from the North Korean government in August of 2007, and its visit to North Korea marked the largest contingent of Americans there since the Korean War of 1950-53 as well as the first major cultural exchange between the United States and North Korea. At the East Pyongyang Concert Hall on Feb. 26, 2008, the orchestra performed a concert consisted of the national anthems of North Korea and the United States, George Gershwin's "An American in Paris," Antonin Dvorak's "New World Symphony," and an encore of "Arirang," Korea's most popular and emblematic folk song, in front of an audience of 2,000 dignitaries. Philharmonic music director Lorin Maazel quipped on the podium that someday someone might compose "Americans in Pyongyang." On Feb. 27, 2008, four string players of the Philharmonic joined four North Korean musicians to perform Mendelssohn's Octet, and Philharmonic music director Lorin Maazel led led North Korea's State Symphony Orchestra in a run-through of the prelude to Wagner's "Die Meistersinger" and Tchaikovsky's "Romeo and Juliet" fantasy-overture.
Was the New York Philharmonic visit a "a puppet show whose purpose is to lend legitimacy to a despicable regime," as arts critic Terry Teachout charged? Was the date of Feb. 26 set by Kim Jong-il deliberately so as to upstage the inauguration of new South Korean president Lee Myung-bak the day before, and to allow for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to go to Pyongyang directly from Lee's inauguration? Was the event "part of a continuum "of conflict and lessening of conflict" masterminded by Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, who no doubt saw the concert as "a perfect way to make the Americans happy for another few months"," as Brian Myers, Dean of International Studies at Dongseo University, noted? Or was it the sign of a thaw in U.S.-North Korean Relations, "evidence that North Korea "wants to improve policy with the US"," as agricultural specialist Edward Reed argued? Might "the concert ... break through years of tortuous talks aimed at getting North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program, a key step in the normalization of diplomatic relations," as former Defense Secretary William J. Perry, who was in attendance, asserted? Kim Kye-gwan, North Korea's chief nuclear negotiator, told CNN's Christiane Amanpour that the Philharmonic vist "has been very successful art-diplomacy between the two nations," and that it has "contributed to good understanding between our two nations." Kim added, "It's quite sensitive to televise the performance of the U.S. national anthem. We are technically in a state of war, so actually it was a political breakthrough. It needs great political courage ... Courage of both nations. I learned and confirmed again that music can be communicated between people without interpreters."
However, optimism about any positive political outcomes from the New York Philharmonic visit may be misplaced. As journalist Donald Kirk pointed out in his article for Asia Times, Kim Jong-il himself did not show up for the Philharmonic concert, and, with the exception of Yang Hyong-sop, vice president of the presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, no top North Korean leaders were among the 1,500 North Koreans in the audience. Perhaps Kim Jong-il might have shown up had Rice come to Pyongyang instead of going directly to Beijing, which would make for another triumphant moment for Kim similar to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's attendance at the Mass Games with Kim in October of 2000. Kim Kye-gwan was also absent from the Philharmonic concert. He repeated to Amanpour North Korea's demands that the United States remove from its list of state sponsors of terrorism and lift sanctions, and also North Korea's desire to be provided with light wate reactors for its energy needs. In Kirk's view, "The New York Philharmonic performance in Pyongyang, far from turning into a celebration of fulfillment of the nuclear agreement, provided a great chance for North Korea to publicize its demands." Nam Sung-wook, North Koreanologist at Korea University, concurs: "while I think the U.S. orchestra playing in the North will improve relations at the uppermost tier and promote cultural exchange, I’m not sure the concert will contribute to the solution of the nuclear crisis ... [and be] a repeat of the 1970s ping-pong diplomacy with China and so many other such trips."
NY Philharmonic performs Arirang in North Korea
As cultural exchange, the Philharmonic visit was undoubtedly a success. In particular, the rendition of "Arirang" brought tears to the eyes of the normally staid North Korean audience, which clapped for more than five minutes and applauded and waved at the orchestra following the conclusion of the concert. Orchestra members too, particularly the eight musicians of Korean descent, reacted emotionally to the occasion. They stood up and waved back at the audience.
Following the concert, it was reported that legendary singer and guitarist Eric Clapton has been invited to perform in North Korea, despite its ban on rock and pop music. If Clapton accepts, he will be the first Western rock musician to perform in North Korea.
South Korean Band Shinhwa in North Korea
However, a number of South Korean pop and rock groups have already performed in North Korea, a cultural exchange made possible by South Korea's Sunshine Policy "aimed at achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula through reconciliation and cooperation with the North" and introduced by President Kim Dae Jung in 1998. Judging by the North Korean audience reactions to South Korean boy band Shinhwa performing in Pyongyang in 2006, which ranged from bemusement to incomprehension to outright hostility, it appears that the New York Philharmonic connected much better musically to the North Koreans than the South Korean pop and rock singers.
