Sunday, December 29, 2013

Panda Diplomacy

Today I came across a book titled "The Way of The Panda: The Curious History of China's Political Animal". It had a cute cover and intriguing title, which prompted me to learn more about the "Panda Diplomacy" (I didn't buy the book though).

Here's what I found out online:
  • China is the only native home of pandas.
  • China has been using giant pandas as diplomatic gifts to other countries since the Tang Dynasty, when Empress Wu Zetian sent a pair of pandas to the Japanese emperor.
  • The face of panda diplomacy has changed over the years.
    • 1950s: The communist party saw the opportunity to give pandas as a gift to build strategic friendships. Russia and North Korea were recipients of the gifts.
    • 1972-1984: Pandas used as gifts to the west, starting with the US, followed by Japan, France, UK, Germany and Mexico.
    • 1984-1998: Pandas were available for a ten-year loan period. The cost of renting a panda is $1 million a year, to be payable to China's Wildlife Conservation Association. In addition, any cubs born to loaned-out pandas are to be returned to China.
    • 2008-Present: Panda loans are based on mutual need where nations supply China with valuable resources and technology. The pandas do not form the deal; rather, they represent the "seal" of approval and intent for a long and prosperous working relationship.

 2008 Sichuan Earthquake
The devastating earthquake severely damaged a considerable proportion of panda habitat and the conservation & breeding centres. Repairs to the nature reserve were expected to take at least 4 years - in the meantime these "refugee" pandas needed a place to stay.

China's response? To offer panda gift-loans to a new group of nations with which China was negotiating important trade agreements, i.e. Japan, Scotland, Canada, France, Singapore and Malaysia (arriving in 2014).

The Panda "Signal"
One can also read the signals from the panda gifts to decipher China's direction or agenda.

  • Scotland received the panda-loan for its supply of salmon meat, Land Rovers, and petrochemical and renewable technology. You may think, so what? For the past 2 decades, Norway has been China's salmon supplier until relations between both countries became strained following the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed China dissident Liu Xiaobo. Woahhhh...I bet if Norway had pandas, China will ask for them back immediately.
  • The panda loans to Canada and France coincide with their long-term contracts to supply China with uranium oxide. Uranium oxide is a major component in nuclear power...
  • China presented a pair of pandas, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, as a "gift" to Taiwan. The fact that the pandas is a "gift" implies that China considers Taiwan a province, since the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species specifies China can only give pandas to domestic zoos (Foreign zoos can only receive the pandas as loans). In addition, the names of the pandas, coined by a mass vote in China, means "reunion". Needless to say, supporters of Taiwan's independence and the opposition party Democratic Progressive Party will not be visiting the pandas any time soon.

 The "Elite Club"
The costs of keeping pandas are substantial. You will need to build and maintain the panda facilities, source for an adequate supply of bamboo, and there is this expectation to breed the pandas. Not to mention, the loan contracts contain fines of $500,000 if a panda dies and human error is involved.

Yet, countries desire to join the elite club of panda-renting nations. China must be doing something right here...

http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=356628


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