![]() ![]() In 2017, three-year-old Meng Meng and seven-year-old Jiao Qing were loaned to Berlin’s Tierpark Zoo for the next 15 years at an annual cost of $1 million. Today, pandas are found in some 20 countries, with the most recent panda pair loan being made in 2019 to Denmark’s Copenhagen Zoo.Ĭhannel News Asia in a report also stated that panda loans have been on the rise since Xi Jinping became president, keeping his ambition of 'going global' in mind. AFPĬhina has involved in panda diplomacy with several countries. There is an additional substantial fee levied for any panda cubs born during the loan period.įile image of China's president Xi Jinping and German chancellor Angela Merkel watch Jiao Qing, one of the two new pandas during the welcoming ceremony for two panda bears at the Zoologischer Garten zoo in Berlin. Pandas were loaned out on a 10-year renewable basis at a significant cost to the host nation.Īccording to reports, host nations must not only meet strict requirements for the care and accommodation of the pandas, but also pay up to $1 million per year for the same. ![]() Not only did this method help with diplomacy but was also profitable from an economic standpoint. Realising their panda numbers were dropping in the 1980s, the Chinese government modified their policy of gifting pandas to loaning them to nations around the world. The high-profile gesture of diplomatic rapprochement was reciprocated, to a degree, by Nixon’s gift to Beijing of two musk oxen. Just two years later, a second giant panda, An An was sent as Ping Ping’s pair.Įxperts note that the animals function as goodwill ambassadors and also helps soften the nation’s authoritarian picture and distract from the nation’s report on human right abuses.Īs written earlier, the first instance of panda diplomacy with Washington occurred in 1972 with Nixon’s visit to Beijing and through this America received its first giant panda pair, Hsing Hsing and Ling Ling. In 1957, China gifted Ping Ping to the Soviet Union for being the first to establish of diplomatic relations with the Peoples Republic of China. However, this practice was regularised in the 1950s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |