The Chinese government supports the objectives set by host France, and welcomes Europe’s leading role. China identifies itself with the long-term European goal of stabilizing the international financial system. But China is not able or willing to broker high-stake conflicts between the US and the EU.

China is counting on the EU economy to help stabilize Chinese exports and balance US influence in international affairs. China wants Europe to carry out more thorough reform to guarantee Chinese investments in the Euro relief package and to open EU markets to China. China may be willing to provide a mixed aid package to the Euro-zone, which may include the purchase of bonds and direct investments into European companies.

As the summit closed last Friday, China remained vague about its plans regarding the Euro, but did make other pledges. From China Daily:

While China never made any concrete promise to help the EU bailout plan, it also never said that it would not help Europe. Indeed, on the contrary, before the G20 summit, Premier Wen Jiabao, on several occasions, expressed the China’s willingness to cooperate with the Europeans during this difficult time.

[...]While help may be necessary, Europe needs to behave in a responsible way and also find its own solutions. China did pledge more help to other developing countries at the summit, in particular, the least developed countries. This was perhaps a reminder to the Europeans that there are others who are poorer and who are more in need of help.

The urgency of the economic situation took the center stage at the summit, diverting attention from another deal in the works between China and an EU country. BBC reports:

The loan of two Chinese pandas to a French zoo has been delayed because of the focus on the Greek crisis at the G20 summit in Cannes.

“Unfortunately… there was no time for the final discussion between President Hu Jintao and President [Nicolas] Sarkozy,” French Ecology Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet told AFP.

“The panda is such a symbolic animal that such loan agreements require agreement from the highest level in China. That’s why it still lacks the final approval,” Ms Kosciusko-Morizet said during an official visit to China.

For more on China and the EU debt crisis, see Eurozone Crisis, China and the Begging Bowl via CDT.

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Post tags: debt crisis, Europe relations, G20, panda diplomacy
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According to the news from the China Panda Protection Center in Sichuan Province, the 34-year-old Ming Ming, the oldest panda in the world, has died, with the official cause given as old age.

The female panda was rescued in Pingwu county, Sichuan Province in 1977, and sent to Xiangjiang Wild Animal World in Panyu, Guangdong Province on March 31, 1998 ….

In most cases, wild pandas only live for 15 years and captive ones for 22 years on average, according to experts.

In addition, the proposed loan of two pandas to Edinburgh Zoo is under investigation by the Scottish charity regulator, according to The Herald. The agreement was loudly hailed as one of the successes of Li Keqiang’s visit to the UK in January.

The zoo insists the pandas will cost it around £6 million over six years, and it is hoped they will boost the attraction’s flagging fortunes – it lost £1.3m last year and 100,000 visitors – by raising its income by 20%.

However, Animal Concern, which lodged the complaint, said its studies have shown the cost of “renting” the pandas will be at least £10m and questioned the pledging of charitable funds on what has been described as a huge financial gamble ….

Meanwhile, David Towne of the US-based charity the Giant Panda Conservation Foundation, said a study into funding at four US zoos found an average price of around £1m a year to rent a pair of pandas.

Mr Towne said: “The first two or three years usually showed a profit on increased attendance and donations but unless you had a cub, there was a diminishing return by year four and overall a loss over the 10-year period.

“It is not a winner long-term.”

London-based Henry Nicholls, author of The Way of the Panda: The Curious History of China’s Political Animal, said: “It is considered that the going rate is about £300,000 per bear per year, but it costs about £200,000 a year alone to source bamboo to feed them.”

The potent lure of cubs, which Towne notes can prolong the bears’ crowd-pulling power, is illustrated by the fact that the famous Sneezing Baby Panda video on YouTube has currently been viewed 103,375,692 times.

See also ‘Pandas Come With Strings Attached’ for details of the panda’s rise as instruments of soft (and cuddly?) power, and the web of conditions to which host zoos abroad must agree.

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Post tags: panda, panda diplomacy, scotland, Sichuan
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The pair of seven-year-old pandas, Tian Tian and Yangguang, will arrive at Edinburgh zoo this year, marking “the culmination of five years of political and diplomatic negotiation at the highest level” according to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. The agreement was witnessed by [Deputy Prime Minister] Nick Clegg and the vice premier of China, Li Keqiang.

The ambassador of China to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, said: “Pandas are a Chinese national treasure. This historical agreement is a gift to the people of the UK from China. It will represent an important symbol of our friendship and will bring our two people closer together.”

“The kind gift of a loan of a breeding pair of giant pandas, Tian Tian and Yuangguang, is a sign that we can co-operate closely on a broad range of environmental and cultural issues, as well as commerce,” said Clegg ….

The agreement marks a return to a custom abandoned in recent years. China traditionally presented pandas to other nations to improve foreign relations in what was known as “panda diplomacy”. But the Chinese government reportedly called an end to the practice in 2007, when it said pandas would only be lent out for breeding and biological research.

Hoping to redress the resulting trade imbalance are the American breeders of “panda cows”, miniature pet cattle selectively bred to bear similar black-and-white markings. From CNN Go (with video):

Colorado-based farmer Chris Jessen is raising the miniature cows to look like China’s famous pandas. There have been 24 bred worldwide with the most recent being born in Jessen’s farm. The panda cows — which are bred solely as pets — sell for US$30,000.

The cow — Ben — is the result of a genetic manipulation program run by Richard Gradwohl, a farmer in Covington, Washington. Ben has a white midsection and white face with black ovals around the eyes ….

“We had a Chinese delegation visit our farm and they were fascinated,” said Gradwohl to The (Loveland) Reporter-Herald.

“They want them in China, so we’re going to be exporting.”

If budget and space are tight, a panda butterfly goldfish may offer a more practical alternative.

See also: Behind China’s Charm Offensive in Europe.

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Post tags: giant panda, Li Keqiang, panda diplomacy, United Kingdom
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Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names said together mean “unite”, will be flown to Taiwan on Tuesday with steamed corn buns and fresh bamboo in their luggage and a standby supply of air-sickness pills.

China had offered the pandas as a goodwill gift in 2006 as part of a charm offensive after decades of sabre rattling. Taiwan’s then anti-China president declined the gift.

At weekend talks held in Shanghai, China and Taiwan also proposed that that an accord be signed in 2009 strengthening cross strait economic ties. From Bloomberg:

The sides agreed to create a supervisory mechanism that would effectively allow Taiwan banks including First Commercial Bank Co., Hua Nan Commercial Bank Ltd. and five others to upgrade representative offices in China to branches. Taiwan will let Chinese companies bid for construction contracts on the island.

Wang Yi, the top Chinese official responsible for relations with Taiwan, proposed another 10 incentives, including 130 billion yuan ($19 billion) of loans for Taiwan companies operating on the mainland, and purchases worth $2 billion of flat-panel displays from the island’s companies.

“The measures are really helpful,” said Norman Yin, a banking professor at the National Chengchi University in Taipei, who attended the Shanghai forum. “Once Taiwanese banks upgrade their China representative offices, they can cooperate with mainland banks to provide financing to Taiwanese businesses in China.”

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Post tags: panda diplomacy, Taiwan, Taiwan relations
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Chinese and Taiwanese officials signed agreements on Tuesday expanding charter flights, maritime shipping and cooperation on food safety issues, bringing their governments closer together as both struggle to overcome economic slowdowns.

…

The new transportation agreement raises to 108 from 36 the number of weekly round-trip charter flights, according to a summary of the agreement posted on a Web site run by the Taiwanese government. The flights are expected to run daily, with 21 cities on the mainland and eight in Taiwan receiving service.

The planes will also fly in a direct line between cities over a route north of Taiwan. Charter flights between China and Taiwan currently take a longer route through Hong Kong airspace because of security concerns.

…

China and Taiwan will add direct cargo charter flights as well, with 60 scheduled per month.

The two governments will also open direct shipping channels for passengers and cargo. China will open a total of 63 ports (48 seaports and 15 riverports), and Taiwan will open 11. To avoid political sensitivities, ships will not fly national flags.

The two governments also agreed to expand free exchange of information regarding food safety issues. If any product is considered faulty or dangerous, a government will recall it and halt its shipment, according to the agreement.

Chen also said China would give Taiwan two pandas at the end of the year. Panda diplomacy has been raised in the past, but was rejected by the former DPP-governing party.

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Post tags: Chen Yunlin, panda diplomacy, Taiwan relations
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Taipei zoo was approved to receive the couple, who are currently refugees from the Sichuan earthquake, a statement from Taiwan’s forestry bureau said.

It was not clear when Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan – whose names taken together mean Unity – will head for the island, or if they will keep their controversial names once they arrive.

They were named after a competition on the mainland. Beijing wanted to ensure that the offer was interpreted as a sign that the island, currently self-governing though not recognised as an independent country by the United Nations, would one day be reunited with the “Motherland”.

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Post tags: panda diplomacy, Taiwan relations, tuantuan yuanyuan
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The last giant panda at Tokyo’s main zoo has died, raising the question of whether Chinese President Hu Jintao might engage in some panda diplomacy when he visits next week.

Ling Ling, a 22-year-old male giant panda popular among zoo visitors, died overnight at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, an official at the zoo said on Wednesday.

An official at Japan’s foreign ministry said possible panda loans from China had been raised previously through diplomatic channels, as Ling Ling aged.

But she added that the issue had so far not been included in topics for discussion during the visit by Hu, the first visit to Japan by a Chinese president in 10 years.

Read also China’s Panda Diplomacy from Time.

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Post tags: Japan, Ling Ling, panda diplomacy
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Taiwan rejected China’s offer of two giant pandas Friday, fuelling speculation that President Chen Shui-bian feared accepting the animals would weaken Taiwanese vigilance against China’s ambition to reign over the island.

The Council of Agriculture’s panda evaluation committee made the ruling after its third meeting on Friday.

“Our conclusion is that the two parks that applied to receive the two pandas are not fully prepared and the pandas cannot adapt to the environment in Taiwan,” Lee Tao-sheng, head of the evaluation committee, told a news conference.

“We believe that if the two parks’ purpose of receiving the pandas is for research, it is best to keep the pandas in the wild in China and carry out the research,” he said.

Lee said there was no political influence on the committee’s decision to bar the pandas from coming to Taiwan.

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Post tags: panda diplomacy, Taiwan relations, tuantuan yuanyuan
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Taiwan and China quibble about everything from diplomatic slights and hidden meanings to ancient history and obscure definitions. So perhaps it’s not surprising that they’d argue over two chubby animals that bite each other’s ears and have trouble procreating.

China’s latest weapon in its increasingly effective charm offensive against Taiwan is an offer of giant pandas. Who would think of turning down two lovable animals that zoos around the world can only dream about, you might ask?

The government of archrival Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, for one, which finds itself tied in knots over the offer.

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Post tags: panda diplomacy, tuantuan yuanyuan
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The latest weapons in the tussle between China and Taiwan are cuddly and adorable and do little all day but chew bamboo and frolic.

China has offered two giant pandas to Taiwan as a goodwill gesture. It has named the two pandas Tuantuan and Yuanyuan, a play on the Chinese word “tuanyuan,” which means “reunion.”

Taiwan’s leaders are squirming, looking for a way to postpone or reject the offer without annoying the Taiwanese public. Opinion polls indicate many Taiwanese want the pandas. A decision by Taipei is expected on April 3.

See also “Editorial: Loving the pandas from afar” from the Taipei Times, and “Snow fun for panda pair” from People’s Daily. Read more about Chinese reactions to the pandas.

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Post tags: panda diplomacy, Taiwan status
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Taiwanese officials have said the gift of two giant pandas offered by China as part of a diplomatic charm offensive will be refused. Taiwan fears acceptance would be seen as acknowledging Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China.

The officials said that sending the pandas would breach the 1963 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), which tightly regulates trade in animals between countries.

China considers the gift acceptable because under United Nations rules it would be regarded as an internal transfer within China, which does not come under the terms of Cites.

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Post tags: cross straits talks, panda diplomacy
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