Commentary: People love pandas but what’s really behind China’s panda diplomacy?

BRISBANE: There is no question, the world loves China’s giant pandas. The enigmatic, reserved herbivores evoke goodwill wherever they travel.

Notable moments in panda diplomacy include the symbolic gifting in 1957 of giant panda, Ping Ping after the Soviet Union became the first nation to establish of diplomatic relations with the PRC. Just two years later, a second giant panda, An An was sent as Ping Ping’s pair. It’s a substantial enterprise, with panda pairs loaned out on a 10-year renewable basis, at significant cost to the host nation.

A significant proportion of the funds earned through the loan scheme are directed towards the improvement of the pandas’ natural bamboo habitat and to support ongoing breeding programmes. Receiving nations have benefited enormously over the years, particularly in terms of the visitor numbers and associated dollar spend that pandas can attract. Yet, breeding pandas for a life in captivity or simply as a tool for diplomatic or commercial gain, is not a viable, long-term solution.

Other loan arrangements have been linked to the successful conclusion of free trade arrangements , for example, the extension of Thailand’s panda deal followed successful completion of the ASEAN-China free trade arrangement in 2010.It’s also unsurprising that panda loans have been on the rise since the arrival of President Xi, alongside his increased ambitions for China to “go global”.

哇，咬的好疼！

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