Video of the week: Ping Pong Diplomacy

It seems that the ping pong diplomacy is alive and well but that its present form involves Chinese leaders frightening other world leaders with their shock and awe table tennis skills. Earlier this year, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wisely declined to take on the earnest, baseball loving Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in a match. Last night, after witnessing Hu Jintao's prowess with the ping pong racquet (see video above), Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda also, as Japan Today puts it, "chickened out in the face of a good player."

Links and Sources
Youku: President Hu Jintao playing ping pong in Japan
Tudou: Earlier video of Hu Jintao playing ping pong in Hong Kong
Japan Today: Hu enjoys table tennis with Ai Fukuhara, but Fukuda backs out
Guardian: Brown Bats Away Ping Pong Challenge