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The second Hong Kong Inter-City Bridge Championships were held in 1981. Shortly before the championships began, the organizing committee received an informal message expressing the hope that a team representing Taiwan would be invited to take part.

In my capacity as chairman of the organizing committee, I visited Taiwan four times and talked to all parties concerned to arrange a Taiwan team's participation in the second Hong Kong Inter-City Bridge Championships, in which the Chinese mainland was represented by a Shanghai team. It was the first ever meeting between mainland and Taiwan people in public in an official setting since 1949 and I feel obliged to share some of the details about that historic tournament.

The "Republic of China" bridge team back then was one of the top four in the world and reigning Asia champion, thanks to the popularity of the game there. However, the bridge community there was quite hesitant about taking part in the 1981 Hong Kong Inter-City Bridge Championships, because people from both sides of the Taiwan Straits had not met in an official setting for 32 years and no athletes from the two sides had competed in the same sporting event during that period. If the two sides competed against each other in the Hong Kong Inter-City, the match would no doubt go beyond the realm of friendly competition and become a political event of historic significance.

I offered four reasons why Taiwan should send its bridge team to compete against the mainland team: first, the Taiwan team was already one of the best in the game of bridge in the world while the mainland was only beginning to appreciate it; second, teams competing in the event represented cities instead of countries, thus avoiding the very sensitive issue of "two Chinas"; third, the Taiwan side did not need to worry about contact with the mainland side, physical or otherwise, because bridge is a game with no contact between competing teams; and finally, Taiwan's arena in international diplomacy and sports was shrinking as the mainland expanded onto the world stage as an economic and political power. That was all the more reason for the Taiwan side to be more flexible over such a matter for its own sake. Thanks to the persistence of many motivated people, two teams representing Taipei made it to Hong Kong with the blessing of "the highest authority".

Thirty-one years has passed since then and I still remember the two Taipei teams were in fact among the top four in the world at that time, while the mainland was represented by Team Shanghai, which was the national team of China. A total of 16 teams entered the second Hong Kong Inter-City Championships, including reigning world women's champion from the US. They competed in two groups of eight, decided by lot drawing in the preliminary round and Team Shanghai and Taipei North were drawn into the same group. Soon after competitions began the historic moment arrived, as the two teams met for the first time in competition.

The two sides played with extreme caution and the game lasted much longer than usual. When it finally ended at midnight, the inexperienced Team Shanghai surprised everyone by beating Taipei North, who probably were not in their top form due to psychological pressure. After the single round-robin preliminary round, Shanghai and Taipei North advanced to the finals while Hong Kong and Taipei South were winners in the other group.

In the finals, the result was another surprise because Team Shanghai ranked second in total points although it beat the other three teams. Team Hong Kong won the championship that year, Shanghai was runner-up, Taipei North third and Taipei South brought up the rear.

When I met with members of the Taipei teams again years later and asked them whether the Taiwan authorities gave them any instructions regarding their historic meetings with the mainland players during the championships, they said yes, but only six words: "Do not avoid, do not initiate." We all smiled in understanding upon hearing that. Anyway, the effect and significance of that milestone meeting in Hong Kong 31 years ago cannot be measured or judged by any standard.

This year the Hong Kong Inter-City celebrates its 32nd anniversary and is now an important platform for exchanges among the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents. Looking back at the historic championships 31 years ago, those familiar smiles still warm my heart whenever I recall the days I spent with them. And the humble tables on which the extraordinary games of bridge were played back then proved instrumental in linking many people, despite the distance and differences between them. For that I wish to thank everyone who supported and helped us throughout the journey as my colleagues and I fulfilled our historic mission.

The author is a HK member of the CPPCC.

(HK Edition 11/17/2012 page3)