diplomacy" began when the People's Republic of China sent an invitation to the U.S. national table tennis team to visit as the first Americans to be invited to mainland China since the Communist government had taken over in 1949. For more than 20 years, mainland China had been closed to the U.S. and other Western nations. The American team was in Nagoya, Japan for the world championships at the same time that the People's Republic was participating in the competition for the first time since 1965. Earlier, Glenn Cowan of the U.S. team was befriended by three-time men's world champion Zhuang Zedong of China and the press coverage led to the invitation. Rufford Harrison, the captain of the U.S. team accepted the invitation on behalf of the team the next day. West Germany's Chancellor, Willy Brandt, wrote to French President Georges Pompidou to reiterate his determination to re-open negotiations for the United Kingdom to join the European Community. Died: Igor Stravinsky, 88, Russian composer, conductor and pianist April 7, 1971 (Wednesday) Two Croatian nationalists invaded the Yugoslavian Embassy in Stockholm and took Ambassador to Sweden Vladimir Rolović hostage, then tortured him and shot him. Stockholm police stormed the building after being called to the scene and arrested the two men, Miro Barešić and Anđelko Brajković, at the scene. Rolović died eight days later. Barešić and Brajković would be released 17 months later after the hijacking of SAS Flight 130. U.S. President Richard M. Nixon announced in a nationally televised speech that he had scheduled the withdrawal of 100,000 additional U.S. troops from South Vietnam by December 1, with 14,300 to return home each month. At the time, there were 284,000 U.S. troops still participating in the Vietnam War. Archbishop Meliktu Jenbere was elected as the second Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, succeeding the late Abuna Basilios, who had died on October 13. He was enthroned as Patriarch Abuna Theophilos on May 9 and would reign until 1979. For the last time in Major League Baseball history, the Opening Day was a doubleheader. With the Oakland A's hosting the visiting Chicago White Sox, winning 6 to 5 and 12 to 4. Born: Guillaume Depardieu (d. 2008), French actor, son of Gérard Depardieu and Élisabeth Depardieu, in Paris April 8, 1971 (Thursday) The first legalized off-track betting system in the United States began operating in the state of New York