From Bamboo to Diplomacy: The Remarkable Journey of Panda Diplomacy
Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Lately, tensions have been persisting in the District of Columbia between the Chinese government and the United States, with the focal point being pandas. The three pandas residing in the U.S. Smithsonian National Zoo are set to return to China on December 7th, 2023 with no public signs that the 50-year-old agreement will continue between the two governments. The San Diego Zoo returned theirs in 2019, followed by the Memphis Tennessee Zoo in 2020, leaving the Atlanta Zoo and DC zoos as the only remaining homes for pandas within the United States. There are many different speculations as to why the Chinese government chose not to renew these contracts, but Dennis Wilder, a senior fellow at Georgetown University's Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues, said that it could be “trying to send a signal” (Wan 2023).
This type of soft power exerted by the Chinese government dates back to 7th-Century CE with Empress Wu Zetian offering pandas to the Japanese Emperor as a symbol of friendship. Soft power, a phrase termed by Joseph Nye in the 1970s, refers to the input of certain aspects of a country—such as media or culture—to shape others’ behavior or thoughts (Nye, 2004). Pandas are often seen as ways to “burnish Chinese global soft power,” and often serve as a barometer of political relations with a country (Murphy 2015). This initially happened in the United States in 1972, after President Richard Nixon made a record-breaking visit to China. During his visit he expressed interest in the animal, so the President of China at the time, Mao Ze Dong, gifted the U.S. a pair of giant pandas in exchange for two musk oxen. However, this diplomacy would shift in 1984 when the Chinese government stopped gifting pandas and began leasing them out on 5-10 year terms for half a million to a million dollars per year. This was then followed by the Los Angeles Zoo leased two pandas due to the Olympics being held there in that same year (Holland, 2017) This, once again, shifted in 2020 with the Chinese government only offering a three-year lease to the U.S. which is now expiring at the Smithsonian National Zoo (Thompson 2020).
These pandas could be given internationally for a variety of reasons outside of just an offering, as is the case with the United States. For example, the “timing of China’s panda agreements with Canada, France, and Australia coincided with uranium deals and contracts with those countries” (Wan 2023). This illustrates the idea of opening a strong line of communication with the receiving country. Additionally, another 2021 study also concurred that the number of pandas within a country positively correlated with their trade volume with China. This happens constantly throughout the globe and most recently notable in the Middle East. The first instance of this was prior to the 2022 World Cup as a new sign of friendship between China and Qatar. Russian President Vladimir Putin went so far as to state that this “gesture is of particular respect and trust” between himself and his best friend President Xi Jin Ping (Wan 2023). While this is probably the strongest form of Chinese soft power, there could be a variety of reasons as to why they loan out the pandas.
This return of pandas from the U.S. to China could be in response to the complicated relationship between the two countries. Popular tensions, such as a Chinese spy balloon being shot down over the United States in January of earlier this year, or foreign consultants being forced to close on both sides could be indicators as to why this is happening. Elena Songestor, an author on panda diplomacy, stated that “it is a way of sending a message without sending it” (Wan 2023). While there have been accusations at the Memphis Zoo of mistreatment which is often referenced when asking Chinese officials about the return of pandas to China, it is an obvious excuse for the Chinese government to step away from relations with America. Since 2018, President Xi Jinping Ping has been investing in different methods of soft power as a means to “better communicate China’s message to the world” making his actions with the U.S. very evident (Schaffer 2023). However, the U.S. has not been fighting for the pandas, and when asked about the deal, stated it would not budge.
Additionally, last year in the House of Representatives, South Carolina Republican Nancy Mace condemned the loan program and even proposed her bill to establish a counter-breeding program to the Chinese one. She stated in her floor speech that “For too long, the Chinese Communist Party has attempted to soften its image with that of the soft cuddly panda by loaning giant pandas to foreign countries at a fee… let's hit them where it hurts” (Schaffer 2023). While this measure went nowhere, it illustrates the issues of rising tensions between the Chinese and American governments. Additionally, this may not have been reactions from Chinese Officials en masse, but from only a handful of government officials in Beijing who have made statements attempting to mask their true intentions by blaming mistreatment. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning stated shortly after the bill was proposed in the House of Representatives that this return must be looked at rationally and with the understanding that some of the pandas were in poor health, regardless of Sino-US relationships (Washington 2023).
While the United States may be returning their pandas, many other Western countries such as Berlin and Scotland are as well. Many experts speculate that this is a move by the Chinese government to move away from the West and to reaffirm other allies, such as Russia who are allowed to keep this Chinese national symbol until 2034 (Wan 2023). The end of panda diplomacy in the US illustrates the threatened and weakened ties between DC and Beijing due not only to the mistreatment of pandas domestically, but also to their forced retrieval. Most importantly, from an international standpoint, this retrieval is the first example of the removal of soft power. There have been cases of rejections of soft power but never removal. This raises the question, what does this removal of soft power mean for Sino-US relations moving forward?
This all began to shift though, as recently as this November at the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in San Francisco, where President Xi stated that pandas will return back to the United States, most likely San Diego (Brita 2023). While there was no clear indication of how many, when this would happen, or exactly where they will be sent, President Xi at a dinner that week stated, “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” (Brita 2023). While it is unclear what any of this means for the future, it illustrates the strong nature of the conference this past November and its positive indication towards Chinese-US relations. Additionally, it demonstrates the optimism President Xi sees in the future of China’s relationship with the United States. Clearly, the friendliness between the two leaders, President Biden and President Xi, have positively benefited from meeting at the APEC convention. The real question present now is, how much of this will actually come true? Only time will tell.
References
Bita, Ryan. 2023. “Pandas May Return to California, China’s XI Says.” NBC News, NBCUniversal News Group, November 16, 2023, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/xi-jinping-china-pandas-california-biden-summit-rcna125471.
Khalil, Ashraf. 2023. “Panda Diplomacy: Departure of DC's beloved pandas may signal a wider Chinese pullback.” ABC News, October 3, 2023. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/panda-diplomacy-departure-dcs-beloved-pandas-signal-wider-103678327.
Nye, Joseph S. “Soft Power : the Means to Success in World Politics”. New York :Public Affairs, 2004.
Kurilla, Michelle. 2023. “Prized Panda Diplomats Return to Beijing.” Council on Foreign Relations, October 27, 2023. https://www.cfr.org/blog/prized-panda-diplomats-return-beijing.
Murphy, Mary Jo. 2015. “A Brief History of Panda Diplomacy.” The New York Times, August 28, 2015. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/28/arts/a-brief-history-of-panda-diplomacy.html.
Oxford University. 2013. “China makes 'cute use' of panda loans,” September 25, 2013. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2013-09-25-china-makes-cute-use-panda-loans.
Thompson. “Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute Extends Giant Panda Agreement.” Smithsonian’s National Zoo, 7 Dec. 2020, nationalzoo.si.edu/news/smithsonians-national-zoo-and-conservation-biology-institute-extends-giant-panda-agreement.
Schaffer, Michael. 2023. “Should We Be Worried That Washington’s Pandas Are Being Sent Back to China?” Politico, October 6, 2023. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/06/washington-pandas-china-cold-war-00120165.
Holland, Brynn. "Panda Diplomacy: The World's Cutest Ambassadors". HISTORY.
Wan, William. 2023. “The hidden power of China’s pandas — and why the U.S. is losing them all.” The Washington Post, November 7, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/11/07/panda-diplomacy-china-us-zoo/.
Washington, Jessica. 2023. “Millions of Chinese welcome Ya Ya panda home after US stay.” Al-Jazeera, March 28, 2023. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/28/millions-of-chinese-welcome-panda-back-home-after-stay-in-us.