The Guardian - China-Xi Jinping suggests China will send new pandas to US as envoys of friendship
November 16, 2023 3 min 441 words
中国总统习近平宣布派遣新熊猫作为“中美友谊的使者”，显示出中美关系有望缓和。这一举动是中美元首12个月来首次面对面会晤的结束语。熊猫一直是中美友谊的象征，自1972年北京赠送一对熊猫给华盛顿国家动物园以来，一直传承至今。习近平在晚宴上表示，愿继续与美国合作保护熊猫，满足加利福尼亚人的期望，加深两国人民之间的友好关系。此举不仅为双方关系注入新的友好元素，也是对国内对熊猫归还的声音作出的回应。在与拜登总统的会谈中，双方还就一系列问题达成一致，显示出中美关系的积极走向。然而，台湾问题仍是悬而未决的焦点。总体而言，通过这一举动，中方传递了缓和紧张关系、寻求合作共赢的积极信号。
Chinese president Xi Jinping signalled on Wednesday evening that China will send new pandas to the United States, calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples”.
“We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” Xi said during a dinner speech with business leaders.
The gesture came at the end of a day in which Xi and President Joe Biden held their first face to face meeting in a year and pledged to try to reduce tensions. Xi did not share additional details on when or where pandas might be provided but appeared to suggest the next pair are most likely to come to California, probably San Diego.
The bears have long been the symbol of the US-China friendship since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington in 1972, ahead of the normalisation of bilateral relations. Later, Beijing loaned the pandas to other US zoos, with proceeds going back to panda conservation programs.
The National Zoo’s three giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji, eight days ago began their long trip to China. After their departure, only four pandas are left in the United States, in the Atlanta Zoo.
“I was told that many American people, especially children, were really reluctant to say goodbye to the pandas, and went to the zoo to see them off,” Xi said in his speech. He added that he learned the San Diego Zoo and people in California “very much look forward to welcoming pandas back.”
Xi is in California to attend a summit of Indo-Pacific leaders and for his meeting with Biden. He made no mention of the pandas during his public remarks earlier in the day as he met with Biden.
When bilateral relations began to sour in the past few years, members of the Chinese public started to demand the return of giant pandas. Unproven allegations that US zoos mistreated the pandas, known as China’s “national treasure”, flooded China’s social media.
But relations showed signs of stabilisation as Xi travelled to San Francisco to meet with the US president. The two men met for about four hours Wednesday at the picturesque Filoli Historic House & Garden, where they agreed to cooperate on anti-narcotics, resume high-level military communications and expand people-to-people exchanges.
The National Zoo’s exchange agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association had been set to expire in early December and negotiations to renew or extend the deal did not produce results.