During a visit to Australia this Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Jiang made a classic goodwill gesture for the benefit of relations between the two countries: He offered to send pandas.
The offer came as relations between Australia and its biggest trading partner improved following a diplomatic row that saw China impose a series of restrictions on Australia's agricultural and mineral exports in 2020, Reuters reports.
Pandas, which originate from China, have become "ambassadors of friendship" over the years, and their gifting to other countries is called panda diplomacy. Pandas have also been used to show China's anger, the Reuters agency points out.
Since its founding in 1949, the People's Republic of China has used panda diplomacy to enhance its international image, by gifting or lending pandas to foreign zoos as goodwill ambassadors.
Former Chinese leader Mao Zedong gave a panda, Ping Ping, to the former Soviet Union in 1957 to mark the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution. In order to further strengthen ties with socialist allies, China sent another panda to the Soviet Union in 1959 and five more to North Korea between 1965 and 1980, the British agency recalls.
In 1972, Beijing presented two pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, to the United States after a historic visit by President Richard Nixon, marking the normalization of relations between the US and China and marking a turning point in Chinese foreign policy.
Since then, other countries including Japan, France, Britain and Spain have also received pandas.
Since 1984, China has stopped giving away pandas as their numbers have dwindled significantly and instead began loaning them to zoos abroad, often in pairs for a period of 10 years, for an annual fee of about $XNUMX million.
In 2010, China demanded the return of two U.S.-born pandas after Beijing warned Washington about a scheduled meeting between then-President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama, who Beijing considers a dangerous separatist.
Although caring for pandas can be expensive for zoos, they are considered an attraction for visitors and help generate revenue. The pandas usually return home to southwest China after their loan agreement expires. Panda cubs born abroad are no exception and are sent home between the ages of two and four to join China's breeding program.
Throughout history, China has rewarded its trading partners with pandas. A 2013 study by the University of Oxford found that the timing of Chinese lending to Canada, France and Australia "coincided" with uranium deals and contracts with these countries.
Panda loans to other countries, including Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, also coincide with the signing of free trade agreements.
China occasionally uses pandas to express displeasure with the behavior of a country.
In 2010, China demanded the return of two US-born pandas after Beijing warned Washington about a scheduled meeting between then-President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing considers a dangerous separatist.
In a recent upturn in bilateral relations, the panda Ja Ja, which was on loan to the United States for 20 years, was returned to China in April 2023.
Concerns about her health have also fueled nationalistic sentiment on Chinese social media, with animal rights activists accusing the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee of inadequate care for the animal, according to Reuters.
In November of last year, three more pandas left, after which only four giant pandas remained in the US territory. That month, Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled he was open to sending more pandas to the US after a meeting with President Joe Biden in California, seen as a sign of China's willingness to improve relations.
China's conservation programs have upgraded the panda's status from endangered to vulnerable. The giant panda population has grown from around 1100 in the 1980s to 1900 in 2023.
There are currently 728 pandas in zoos and breeding centers around the world.
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