China plans to take all its pandas from American zoos. This is the first time in 50 years that this has happened and may indicate growing tensions between China and the United States.
It is noted that three pandas from the Washington National Zoo are due to return to China by December 2023 after a three-year agreement with the Chinese Wildlife Agency. Three other American zoos with Chinese pandas – Atlanta, San Diego, and Memphis – have either given their pandas away or will return them to China by the end of next year.
“Although both sides deny the influence of politics, China has long used ‘panda diplomacy’ to earn favor, reward friends, and punish adversaries,” the publisher believes.
According to Bloomberg, the potential loss of the last American pandas comes at a time when ties between the United States and China have reached a historic low and most avenues of cooperation have been cut off.
In the same vein, any hope that Washington will get new pandas will mean that relations between the two countries are improving, or at least not deteriorating.
