WASHINGTON — On Oct. 15, two giant pandas arrived at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo after a 19-hour trans-Pacific flight on a FedEx carrier plane, fittingly known as the “Panda Express”. Before last week’s arrival, pandas have not occupied the National Zoo since November 2023, when three giant pandas were returned to China ahead of an expiring loan agreement.
Pandas and the future of diplomacy
Given U.S. and China’s competitive relationship and tense diplomatic atmosphere in recent years, the pandas’ November departure concerned the panda-loving public, as an agreement had not been constructed at the time for new giant pandas to occupy the National Zoo in the trio’s place.
Chee Meng Tan, an assistant professor at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, said the recall of the pandas signified the Chinese government’s disapproval with America’s stance on key political differences, including the U.S.’s containment strategy in the South China Sea and America’s support for Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
“The fact that pandas are national treasures means that you can’t just leave them in the hands of people that are not on very good terms with you,” Tan said.
However, E. Elena Songster, author of “Panda Nation: The Construction and Conservation of China’s Modern Icon,” offers a different theory — rather than making a political statement, the Chinese government likely wanted the pandas to retire in their home country.
“The pandas were getting quite old,” she said. “They probably did want to bring these geriatric pandas back to China… to spend their sunset years in the homeland.”
Four pandas from Zoo Atlanta were also returned to China on Oct. 12, with the original loan beginning in 1999. With the end of this long-standing loan, Songster believes the recent panda loans represent a new era of U.S.-China diplomacy, backed by a Xi Jinping-headed government.
“Those original loans were all made under a previous leadership in China, and so it’s my feeling that Xi Jinping really wants these new loans to be on him, starting this new legacy of panda loans to the United States,” Songster said.
Tan agrees that Xi Jinping is attempting to “reset” the political relationship through new panda loans, but notes that China is particular in sending pandas to strategic places around the U.S., such as the San Diego Zoo and San Francisco Zoo in California to “woo the tech crowd.”
“San Francisco is one of the world centers for AI, so I would imagine that he’s signaling the importance of San Francisco to China’s AI ambition,” he said.
Pandas as a diplomatic tool
The exchange of giant pandas has historically symbolized China’s willingness to forge strong diplomatic ties with another country. The National Zoo’s first pandas were received in 1972 by President Nixon’s administration as a gift, during China’s transformation away from the cultural seclusion which occurred under Mao Zedong’s government.
“When the Chinese gifted [Patricia] Nixon the first pair of government-gifted pandas, it was a signal that U.S.-China relations were heading towards normalization,” Judith Shapiro, Director of Dual Degree in National Resources and Sustainable Development at American University, said.
In 1984, the Chinese government switched from gifting giant pandas to renting them out on loans to countries, allowing the government to keep their ownership over the pandas and to relocate them at will, unlike the nature of a permanent one-time gift.
A 2013 study showed that the timing of panda loans has historically coincided with when countries make favorable deals or contracts, signaling China’s approval for the policies. On the flip side, the rescinding of pandas can also signal China’s disapproval, such as when two bears were recalled days after Beijing warned President Obama against meeting the Dalai Lama, a Tibetan spiritual leader, in 2010.
“There’s always a certain amount of interpretation that has to be made, because the government of the People’s Republic of China usually maintain in all their official statements that every panda loan is an act of goodwill, but they’re very aware of the power of the panda in terms of its broad appeal to people,” Songster said.
But pandas cannot appear instantly. There is also a great scientific effort behind every panda loan, requiring time on both ends to prepare for the panda’s transport. The hosting zoo must raise millions of dollars to build an adequate panda habitat and support the panda’s annual fee — $1 million dollars — to the China Wildlife Conservation Association “to support research and conservation efforts in China,” according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.
However, the program’s conservation efforts have been questionable. A The New York Times investigation found that China has removed more pandas from the wild than it has released, and that individual pandas have been hurt by aggressive artificial breeding practices.
“As an actual conservation program, the success is really dubious, compared with the fact that each individual panda on this loan is incredibly valuable financially to the Chinese and to the recipient zoo,” Shapiro said.
China has promised two more pandas to the San Francisco Zoo, but it is uncertain whether U.S. zoos will receive more in the future. One thing is certain — the American public loves pandas, and as long as China’s panda loan policy resumes as normal, American zoos will continue to vye for giant pandas.
“People really love seeing pandas. They love going and visiting them, they enjoy watching them on videos,” Songster said. “People are inclined to attach meaning to the pandas, and it’s often associated with their affection for them.”
