In a brand new spherical of 'panda diplomacy,' China sends big bears to the U.S. after twenty years

For the primary time in additional than twenty years, big pandas are en route from China to a San Diego zoo within the U.S. — an indication that Beijing is resuming its so-called “panda diplomacy” efforts as relations with the West thaw.

4-year-old Yun Chuan, a male panda, and Xin Bao, a feminine panda who’s turning 4 in July, departed from Bifengxia Large Panda Base, in China’s Sichuan province on Wednesday.

The pair will reside on the San Diego Zoo for the subsequent 10 years, in line with a press release from the zoo.

San Diego mayor Todd Gloria visited the Chinese language facility on Wednesday to have a good time the pandas’ departure earlier than welcoming them to his metropolis. Delegates from each international locations have been in attendance as effectively.

“I am honored to have been invited to affix within the farewell ceremonies in China for Yun Chuan and Xin Bao,” the mayor said on X. “It is a historic conservation partnership that can assist shield these magnificent creatures and their habitat.”

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance President and CEO Paul Baribault mentioned the farewell ceremony “celebrates their journey and underscores a collaboration between the USA and China on very important conservation efforts.”

The pandas have been accompanied by caretakers and veterinarians from each China and the U.S., together with Individuals who visited China earlier and “bought to know the pandas effectively,” Huang Shan, a large panda caretaker on the Ya’an facility advised NBC News.

The Chinese language group will spend about three months in San Diego to assist the pandas settle in, state media China Daily said.

The bears will take time to acclimatize and will not be allowed to fulfill the general public instantly, the zoo highlighted.

The San Diego Zoo was the primary within the U.S. to have a cooperative panda conservation program, which goals to enhance the well being and resilience of big pandas — a species that is vulnerable to extinction.

Yun Chua, the male panda, is the son of Zhen Zhen, who was born at San Diego Zoo in 2007.

The zoo has not had residing pandas since 2019, after a 27-year-old feminine big panda, Bai Yun, and her 6-year-old son, Xiao Liwu, returned to China. The zoo pledged at the moment to proceed its conservation efforts.

Final 12 months, China recalled three giant pandas that have been loaned to the U.S. who have been residing on the Smithsonian’s Nationwide Zoo in Washington as tensions with Washington flared.

4 others in Zoo Atlanta are anticipated to return residence this 12 months.

However as bilateral relations thawed, Chinese language International Minister Wang Yi pledged in January big pandas would return to the U.S., saying the 2 international locations should coexist peacefully and put their variations apart, the Associate Press reported.

“Beijing needs to enhance American perceptions of China and is leaning into cultural diplomacy as a result of it doesn’t wish to compromise on political points corresponding to human rights, industrial coverage, and territorial disputes,” Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese language Politics at Asia Society Coverage Institute’s Heart for China Evaluation advised CNBC.

Nonetheless, he highlighted that the pandas’ arrival to San Diego may have little impression on bilateral relations.

“Panda diplomacy may have little impression on the U.S.-China relationship, which has already entered a seemingly extended interval of strategic competitors,” Thomas mentioned.

“Zoogoers ought to take pleasure in watching the lovable pandas with out worrying that Washington has turn into beholden to Beijing.”

— With reporting from NBC Information.