????第1部分：重返中國(guó)

????馬克?彭德格拉斯特【作家,，著有《可口可樂(lè)帝國(guó)》（For God, Country & Coca-Cola）一書(shū)】：可口可樂(lè)是西方資本主義和消費(fèi)主義的典型代表,，遭到中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨的堅(jiān)決反對(duì)。

????Lub Bun Chong【作家,，著有《管理中國(guó)合伙人》（Managing a Chinese Partner）一書(shū)】：中國(guó)人仇視所有西方事物,。這時(shí)候,，可口可樂(lè)來(lái)到中國(guó)說(shuō)：“伙計(jì)們，我們想在中國(guó)賣可樂(lè),?！?/p>

????魯大衛(wèi)（可口可樂(lè)大中華區(qū)執(zhí)行副總裁兼董事長(zhǎng)）：我父親曾在老布什當(dāng)政期間擔(dān)任外交官，在中美建交之前,，美國(guó)在北京設(shè)有一處聯(lián)絡(luò)辦公室,。我于1976年在中國(guó)學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)，可能是第一個(gè)或第一批就讀中國(guó)公立中學(xué)的美國(guó)學(xué)生,。當(dāng)時(shí)學(xué)生們接受的都是文化大革命式的教育,。我曾在一個(gè)公社勞動(dòng)過(guò)一個(gè)月。我還在一家工廠工作過(guò),。我們現(xiàn)在很難想象當(dāng)時(shí)的中國(guó)是如何封閉——就像今天的朝鮮一樣,。

????李勵(lì)生（可口可樂(lè)中國(guó)首任總裁）：1977年夏天，我接到一個(gè)電話,，說(shuō)可口可樂(lè)董事長(zhǎng)J?保羅?奧斯丁想要見(jiàn)我。我從未見(jiàn)過(guò)奧斯丁——當(dāng)時(shí),，我只是可口可樂(lè)實(shí)驗(yàn)室中一名普通的化學(xué)家,，剛接受了一項(xiàng)新任務(wù)，前往可口可樂(lè)遠(yuǎn)東分公司位于香港的總部,。奧斯丁說(shuō)道：“我希望你能作為公司的先鋒,，觀察一下中國(guó)今年的形勢(shì)?！笨煽诳蓸?lè)未能打入前蘇聯(lián)市場(chǎng),，這令他非常沮喪。他希望在退休之前,，能夠完成一件有意義的事情,。

????伊恩?威爾遜（原可口可樂(lè)公司副董事長(zhǎng)）：我們必須對(duì)俄國(guó)人進(jìn)行反擊。保羅說(shuō),，如果不能進(jìn)入（中國(guó)市場(chǎng)）,，那你就自求多福吧。（1）

????李：我開(kāi)始與中國(guó)糧油食品進(jìn)出品公司（China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation）進(jìn)行接觸,。中國(guó)糧油食品進(jìn)出口公司是中糧集團(tuán)(COFCO,，一家中國(guó)國(guó)有進(jìn)出口公司)的前身。我在六七個(gè)月內(nèi),，向多個(gè)部門發(fā)去了電報(bào),，結(jié)果卻如石沉大海。1978年12月,，我突然收到了一封回電,，一共只有兩句話：“我們知道貴公司可以提供的產(chǎn)品,。我們歡迎貴方來(lái)北京洽談?！?/p>

????威爾森：迪克?霍爾布魯克（卡特總統(tǒng)任職期間,，擔(dān)任主管東亞與太平洋事務(wù)的助理國(guó)務(wù)卿）正在為兩國(guó)關(guān)系正常化而努力,。他說(shuō)道：“天哪,，如果你們能在我們之前簽署協(xié)議，一定要讓我知道,?！?/p>

????李：當(dāng)時(shí)北京非常寒冷。我專門定做了一件保存至今的灰色羊絨大衣,。中糧方面有三人出席了會(huì)議,。我說(shuō)：“我知道中國(guó)正在執(zhí)行對(duì)外開(kāi)放政策——中國(guó)將向全世界的游客敞開(kāi)懷抱。而我們相信,，我們的產(chǎn)品將被大多數(shù)游客所喜愛(ài),。”當(dāng)然,，眾所周知,，我們的最終目標(biāo)不僅是向游客出售可樂(lè)。我們?cè)?978年12月13日簽署了協(xié)議,。

????威爾森：卡特總統(tǒng)要求我們?cè)谒純蓢?guó)外交關(guān)系正?；埃灰寂c中國(guó)合作的消息,。12月15日,，星期五，下午3點(diǎn),，卡特用特有的方式宣布與中國(guó)建立外交關(guān)系,。然而，這則消息不幸沉入了周末媒體黑洞,。 我們?cè)谥芤簧衔纾?2月18日）召開(kāi)了新聞發(fā)布會(huì),。結(jié)果，發(fā)布會(huì)成了各主要國(guó)家電視新聞的頭條新聞,，并登上了全世界每一家報(bào)紙的頭版,。這在當(dāng)時(shí)引起了轟動(dòng)。

????Part I: Getting Back In

????Mark Pendergrast (author, For God, Country & Coca-Cola): Coca-Cola was an archetypal symbol of Western capitalism and consumerism, which the Chinese Communists presumably were vehemently opposed to.

????Lub Bun Chong (author, Managing a Chinese Partner): The Chinese hated all things Western. And then Coke comes in and says, "Guys, we want to sell Coke."

????David Brooks (executive vice president and chairman, Coca-Cola Greater China): My father was a diplomat who worked for George H.W. Bush when they had a liaison’s office in Beijing, in the early days before diplomatic relations. I was probably the first or one of the first American students to go to Chinese public middle school in 1976. It was that era of Cultural Revolution-based education. I went to a commune to work in fields for a month. I worked in a factory. It’s hard to conceive today how closed off China really was—it was like North Korea today.

????Peter Lee (first president of Coca-Cola China): In the summer of 1977, I got a call that Coca Cola’s chairman J. Paul Austin wanted to see me. I had never met Austin—I was a little Coke chemist in the laboratory and I had accepted a new assignment to travel to Coca-Cola Far East’s base in Hong Kong. Austin said, "I want you to be an eye for the company and see what China is going through this year." He was very frustrated because Coke did not make it in the Soviet Union. He hoped he could do something significant before he retired.

????Ian Wilson (former Coca-Cola vice chairman): We had to counter Russia. Paul said, God help you if you don’t get in [China.] (1)

????Lee: I began to develop some contact with the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation, or what today we call COFCO [One of China’s state-owned import-export companies —Ed.] I sent many telexes to different departments over six or seven months. I never received a response. Then suddenly, in December 1978, I received a response. It said, "We understand what your company could offer. We welcome you to come to Beijing for negotiations." That’s all.

????Wilson: Dick Holbrook [Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under President Carter] was working on normalization. He said, "My God, if you sign before we do, let me know."

????Lee: It was very cold in Beijing. I made special overcoat just for the purpose, a grey cashmere overcoat. I still have it. In the meeting, there were three people from COFCO. I said, "I understand China now has an open-door policy—it’s open to tourists from all over world. We have a product we believe most tourists would love." Our eventual goal, I’m sure everyone knew, wasn’t just selling to the tourist population. We signed the agreement on December the 13th, 1978.

????Wilson: We got a request from Carter not to announce until he had made an announcement [about normalized diplomatic relations]. In typical Carter fashion, around the fifteenth of December, he announced relations with China at 3 p.m. on a Friday. It went into a weekend media black hole. We called a press conference Monday morning [December 18]. It made the first minute of TV news in every major country, the front page of every newspaper in world. It was an enormous story.