Giant pandas arrive in US after Trump-Xi summit: What is China’s ‘panda diplomacy’?

Two giant pandas sent by China arrived in the United States on Sunday, reviving Beijing’s long-running use of the animals as symbols of friendship and diplomatic goodwill.The arrival of giant pandas, named Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, at Zoo Atlanta came days after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced their transfer during his visit to Washington and meeting with US President Donald Trump.Xi described the giant panda as an “envoy 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 remain 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 closely associated with the country’s culture and national identity.Their popularity have made them an unusual but highly visible tool of soft power.The practice has a long history.

Some accounts trace panda diplomacy to the Tang dynasty, when Empress Wu Zetian is reported to have sent two live pandas to Japan in the seventh century, according to think-tank DiploFoundation.In the modern era, the 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 gifted two pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, to the United States following then-President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China.Why does panda diplomacy matter to Beijing?

Pandas can offer China a softer channel for building goodwill with foreign governments and publics, particularly when broader diplomatic relations are strained by disagreements or strategic competition, according to DiploFoundation.The 1972 US panda gift held particular symbolic significance. 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 Atlanta pandas also came during a high-profile US visit, adding a symbolic meaning to ties marked by both trade competition and efforts to maintain dialogue amid tensions.Why China stopped gifting pandas and switched to long-term loansChina's panda policy changed significantly in the 1980s.

Instead of permanently gifting pandas to other countries, Beijing shifted towards long-term loan arrangements, partly due to the growing conservation concerns, according to DiploFoundation.Under the modern system, pandas are generally loaned for fixed periods under agreements that cover their care, research, breeding, and associated costs, according to the think tank.Cubs born overseas are typically 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 publics and governments of other nations.The 1972 US panda's arrival also demonstrates the popular appeal of diplomacy.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, according to CNN.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 on their first day on display, helping trigger what was widely described at the time as a wave of “panda-monium”, as per Anadolu.