Zhuang Zedong | 'Ping-Pong diplomat,' 72

Three-time world table-tennis champion Zhuang Zedong, 72, a key figure in the groundbreaking "Ping-Pong diplomacy" between China and the United States, died Sunday, Feb. 10, of cancer, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Mr. Zhuang won fame by presenting a gift to American player Glenn Cowan, who had inadvertently boarded a bus carrying the Chinese team at the world championships in Nagoya, Japan, in 1971.

Mr. Zhuang and Cowan were photographed together, creating an international sensation at a time when China and the United States were bitter Cold War rivals.

Under orders from Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung, the 15-member American team was invited to China at the end of the Nagoya championships for an ice-breaking visit. Ten months later, President Richard Nixon made a surprise visit to China, leading to the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1979. - AP