Since 1949, the establishment of the PRC (People’s Republic of China), giant pandas have been “employed” as ambassadors to showcase the goodwill of the Chinese government, thus strengthening diplomatic ties and Beijing’s soft power. Born and raised politically, pandas’ destinies are subject to shifting politics. Today we ask if panda diplomacy is dying out, or is it thriving.
Just this week, Beijing officials increased pressure on Taiwan. Trump has not commented, but certain websites in the U.S. have updated their content on the topic. The relationship between mainland China and Taiwan is more than intense. Can the panda ambassadors in Taiwan help?
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, the Pandas sent to Taiwan
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan arrived in Taiwan in 2008 and had two cubs Yuan Zai and Yuan Bao. As the oldest female panda in Taiwan, she has become an unwitting symbol of the complicated relationship between mainland China and Taiwan. Her partner Tuan Tuan, whose name together with hers forms the phrase ‘reunion’ in Chinese, died from a brain tumour. Yuan Yuan now lives alone in Taipei Zoo.
The journey of sending pandas to Taiwan was anything but smooth. China first proposed sending a panda pair in 2005 but was rejected twice during Chen Shui-bian’s presidency. Chen Shui-bian (president of Taiwan from 2000 to 2008) favoured Taiwan’s independence, claimed that pandas were not suitable to be raised in Taiwan and they wouldn’t be happy.
The year 2008 welcomed Ma Ying-jeou (president of Taiwan from 2008 to 2016) coming to power and his flexible approach to cross-strait relationships. Along with celebrations over the closer ties between mainland China and Taiwan, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan were warmly welcomed upon arrival in Taiwan.
Undoubtedly, these furry ambassadors have proved their power in bridging differences and building up friendships. In 2022, the China-Taiwan relationship intensified drastically when Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. Speaker of the House, visited Taiwan. With the highest tension in over 30 years, the seriously ill Tuan Tuan, brought China and Taiwan together and two experts were allowed to visit Taiwan and treat this panda.
Tuan Tuan’s death in 2022, despite treatment from mainland Chinese experts, was widely mourned and a great sorrow to many. Tsai Iing-wen, leader of Taiwan from 2016 to 2024, was blamed for being indifferent to Tuan Tuan’s death. She was then attacked for expressing condolence to President Joe Biden’s losing his dog in 2021 but not the beloved panda Tuan Tuan.
Biden’s ambiguous stance fueled the tension between mainland China and Taiwan, however, Trump’s shift in policy and unpredictable nature has added to the uncertainties of the cross-strait relationship. Taiwan seemed to have been left out of the latest revival of panda diplomacy as two pandas made their public debut in the U.S. last Friday but none are planned for Taiwan.
Will these beloved ambassadors embark on new journeys to Taiwan? Probably not anytime soon.
Innocent Bears as Ambassadors of Chaos
Ya Ya was given to the United States in 2003 as people welcomed the high points of the U.S. – China relationship. However, two decades later, Memphis Zoo was grilled by Chinese netizens accusing the zoo of mistreating Le Le and Ya Ya. Le Le was Ya Ya’s partner who later died. Following this event, photos and videos of Ya Ya with thinning fur and a noticeably skinny frame sparked outrage online.
Animal welfare organization Panda Voices campaigned to pressure the Chinese government to bring Ya Ya back. More than 200,000 people signed the petition “End Pandas YaYa & LeLe’s suffering and send them back home now”, and the hashtag “Welcome home, Ya Ya” garnered more than half a billion views on Weibo.
Despite online campaigns demanding Ya Ya’s return, the Chinese government initially defended its partnership with Memphis Zoo. Chinese state media reported that the zoo was taking good care of Ya Ya and cooperating with Chinese authorities. However, Chinese netizens remained skeptical of these claims and even accused the Chinese authorities of “corruption” and “treason”.
As the fallout continued, Chinese netizens started to check on all the pandas outside China. Some netizens were sent to prison for spreading rumors that pandas were being abused outside China, according to Chinese mainstream media.
Opposite to the antipathy toward the U.S. zoo, the Chinese rejoiced at Ding Ding and Ru Yi’s ‘Russionalization’ at Moscow Zoo. This comparison of pandas being energetic in Russia and skinny in the U.S. sparked a higher level of anti-American and pro-Russian sentiment.
Driven by love for pandas, patriotism has gone beyond the Chinese government’s control. Online activism against panda diplomacy is ongoing.
In Malaysia Tigers Have Paid for the Pandas
It is important to note that it is very expensive to keep pandas. With annual rental fees of up to $1 million (USD) and the costs of fresh bamboo etc., many zoos have to return pandas to China. However, the real cost of pandas is more than financial.
While it is well-known that China has gifted pandas to countries like the U.S., Japan, Russia, and the UK, China has also sent pandas to Malaysia. Responding to China’s goodwill, Malaysia has maintained the highest standards of care for its pandas, spending about $20 million over a decade on pandas and building a palace for pandas.
Malayan tigers, local to Malaysia, could never imagine being treated like pandas. There were about 500 Malayan tigers in the wild when the panda deal was signed in 2014, and now their number has decreased to less than 200. WWF Malaysia (World Wide Fund for Nature Malaysia) has been advocating that the government allocate more budget towards Malayan tiger protection.
Despite the growing public pressure urging the Malaysian government to return the giant pandas, the Malaysian government could not because of the agreement with China.
Who’s the winner of Panda Diplomacy?
As pandas travel across borders with political waves, the question remains: who truly benefits from panda diplomacy?
Clearly, the Chinese government benefits from it. These furry ambassadors present the goodwill and friendliness of the Chinese government, building up a softer international image. On the other hand, hosting pandas is also a way of enhancing the diplomatic relationship with China.
Additionally, pandas can take up resources that could have been attributed to other endangered species, especially in countries like Malaysia. Hosting expensive pandas means taking the risk of losing other precious animals that are less politically significant than pandas.
In the face of deteriorating relationships between mainland China and Taiwan, uncertainties have been brought upon the innocent bear Yuan Yuan. Will China and Taiwan collaborate and treat Yuan Yuan together if she’s unwell? Will Yuan Yuan see her fellow pandas again? Will Yuan Yuan ever return to mainland China? We don’t know.
As world tensions grow and China brings more pandas home, panda diplomacy is changing. The sad truth is that these simple animals that should bring joy have become political symbols – black and white bears caught in a world where politics is rarely black and white.
Author: Evelyn Fang
#Taiwan #China #Panda Diplomacy #Sustainability
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