????第1部分：重返中國

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

????Lub Bun Chong【作家，著有《管理中國合伙人》（Managing a Chinese Partner）一書】：中國人仇視所有西方事物。這時候，可口可樂來到中國說：“伙計們，我們想在中國賣可樂。”

????魯大衛（可口可樂大中華區執行副總裁兼董事長）：我父親曾在老布什當政期間擔任外交官，在中美建交之前，美國在北京設有一處聯絡辦公室。我于1976年在中國學校學習，可能是第一個或第一批就讀中國公立中學的美國學生。當時學生們接受的都是文化大革命式的教育。我曾在一個公社勞動過一個月。我還在一家工廠工作過。我們現在很難想象當時的中國是如何封閉——就像今天的朝鮮一樣。

????李勵生（可口可樂中國首任總裁）：1977年夏天，我接到一個電話，說可口可樂董事長J?保羅?奧斯丁想要見我。我從未見過奧斯丁——當時，我只是可口可樂實驗室中一名普通的化學家，剛接受了一項新任務，前往可口可樂遠東分公司位于香港的總部。奧斯丁說道：“我希望你能作為公司的先鋒，觀察一下中國今年的形勢。”可口可樂未能打入前蘇聯市場，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（原可口可樂公司副董事長）：我們必須對俄國人進行反擊。保羅說，如果不能進入（中國市場），那你就自求多福吧。（1）

????李：我開始與中國糧油食品進出品公司（China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation）進行接觸。中國糧油食品進出口公司是中糧集團(COFCO，一家中國國有進出口公司)的前身。我在六七個月內，向多個部門發去了電報，結果卻如石沉大海。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品。我們歡迎貴方來北京洽談。”

????威爾森：迪克?霍爾布魯克（卡特總統任職期間，擔任主管東亞與太平洋事務的助理國務卿）正在為兩國關系正常化而努力。他說道：“天哪，如果你們能在我們之前簽署協議，一定要讓我知道。”

????李：當時北京非常寒冷。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議。我說：“我知道中國正在執行對外開放政策——中國將向全世界的游客敞開懷抱。而我們相信，我們的產品將被大多數游客所喜愛。”當然，眾所周知，我們的最終目標不僅是向游客出售可樂。我們在1978年12月13日簽署了協議。

????威爾森：卡特總統要求我們在他宣布兩國外交關系正常化之前，不要公布與中國合作的消息。12月15日，星期五，下午3點，卡特用特有的方式宣布與中國建立外交關系。然而，這則消息不幸沉入了周末媒體黑洞。 我們在周一上午（即12月18日）召開了新聞發布會。結果，發布會成了各主要國家電視新聞的頭條新聞，并登上了全世界每一家報紙的頭版。這在當時引起了轟動。

????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.