Giant pandas to arrive in US after Trump-Xi summit: What is China’s ‘panda diplomacy’? | Today’s news
Two giant pandas sent by China arrived in the United States on Sunday, reviving Beijing’s long-standing use of the animals as symbols of friendship and diplomatic goodwill.
The arrival of the giant pandas, named Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, at Zoo Atlanta comes days after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced their move during his visit to Washington and a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Xi described the giant panda as an “ambassador of friendship” between China and the US.
The pandas left Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport on a chartered flight early Saturday and arrived in Atlanta after a roughly 16-hour journey. They are expected to stay at Zoo Atlanta for 10 years, according to CNN.
What is China’s “Panda Diplomacy”?
“Panda diplomacy” refers to China’s practice of sending giant pandas overseas as symbols of goodwill and as a means of strengthening diplomatic and cultural ties.
Pandas are native to China and are closely associated with the country’s culture and national identity.
Their popularity has made them an unusual but highly visible instrument of soft power.
The practice has a long history. According to the DiploFoundation think tank, some reports trace panda diplomacy to the Tang Dynasty, when Empress Wu Zetian reportedly sent two live pandas to Japan in the seventh century.
In modern times, this practice became particularly prominent in the 20th century. China sent pandas to the Soviet Union in the 1950s, while one of the most famous examples came in 1972 when Beijing donated two pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, to the United States after then-President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China.
Read also | China’s cutest diplomats are back: Why Xi Jinping is giving America pandas
Why is panda diplomacy important to Beijing?
Pandas can offer China a softer channel for building goodwill with foreign governments and the public, especially when broader diplomatic relations are strained by disagreements or strategic competition, according to the DiploFoundation.
The 1972 US gift of the panda had a special symbolic meaning. It followed Nixon’s landmark visit to China and became a highly visible expression of the thaw in relations between Washington and Beijing.
More than five decades later, Xi’s announcement of the new pandas from Atlanta also came during a high-profile US visit, adding symbolic significance to ties marked by both trade competition and efforts to maintain dialogue amid tensions.
Why China stopped giving gifts to pandas and switched to long-term loans
China’s panda policy changed significantly in the 1980s. Instead of permanently gifting pandas to other countries, Beijing has moved to long-term loan arrangements, in part due to growing conservation concerns, according to the DiploFoundation.
In the modern system, pandas are generally loaned for a fixed period under agreements that cover their care, research, breeding and related costs, according to the think tank.
Cubs born overseas are usually returned to China under the terms of the agreements.
Why are pandas such powerful diplomatic symbols?
Unlike traditional instruments of diplomacy, pandas have a strong appeal among ordinary people.
Their presence allows China to engage the public and governments of other nations.
The arrival of the American panda in 1972 also demonstrates the popular appeal of diplomacy.
According to CNN, First Lady Pat Nixon told Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai during her visit to Beijing that she liked pandas after seeing them at the Beijing Zoo.
When Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrived in Washington, Pat Nixon led an official welcoming ceremony for the animals at the National Zoo on April 20, 1972.
The pandas drew huge crowds. About 20,000 people visited the zoo during the first day of the exhibit, helping to trigger what was widely described at the time as a “panda-monium” wave, according to Anadolu.
