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For decades, China has loaned its Giant Pandas to zoos worldwide, a symbol of generosity but also a gesture that blends cultural charm with strategic influence. With geopolitical tensions simmering between the West and China, panda diplomacy gives us a unique insight into the China’s foreign policy objectives and strategic ambitions. Frequently, pandas are included within trade negotiations, economic partnerships and goodwill gestures between China and other countries, a key soft power tool.
In 2013, pandas arrived in Canada as a way of smoothing out a free trade agreement between Ottawa and Beijing. Then, in 2014, China sent pandas to Malaysia to mark 40 years of diplomatic ties. However, the use of these pandas also served as an important message to the Malaysian government amid a warming reception to growing US influence in the country.
The selection process is opaque but still deliberate. Countries apply to host pandas, and must meet stringent requirements for zoo facilities, conservation expertise and financial obligations. Furthermore, China Wildlife Conservation and the National Forestry Administration evaluate the applications of these countries, ensuring alignment with the foreign policy goals of Beijing. Pandas are rarely sent to nations with strained relations, and when tensions rise, China often recalls or withholds loans of these pandas to foreign countries. As a result, in 2019, the San Diego Zoo was forced to return its pandas amid escalating trade disputes with China due to them being recalled, an unexpected way of escalating pressure upon the US to back down from the oncoming trade war.
They also serve as propaganda tools both domestically and abroad. At home, Chinese state media is able to use panda loans as evidence of the nation’s global influence and power. Additionally, in China, state media celebrates panda loans as evidence of the nation’s global benevolence. Internationally, pandas draw massive crowds—Edinburgh Zoo reported a 50% visitor spike after pandas arrived in 2011—amplifying China’s cultural reach. At the same time, China can soften its image to countries wary of its assertive foreign policy. Recently, China approved new panda loans to Australia and Austria, signalling a desire to mend ties after historic friction between these countries. The animals’ appeal transcends politics, making them ideal for softening China’s image in countries cautious of its overall foreign policy objectives in their region.
In addition to this, China is able to use panda propaganda to present a commitment to conservation and aligning itself with international agendas on climate conservation and the environment. All recipient zoos must contribute to research on breeding and habitat preservation, which China lauds as demonstrating their commitment to the environment. This eco-diplomacy angle resonates in climate-conscious nation, such as Germany, which has recently began to collaborate with Chinese scientists on conservation projects. Pandas have begun to tie the two countries together presenting the effects of panda soft power.
Overall, pandas are an effective way of demonstrating China’s foreign policy goals through their approval and recalling of panda loans while simultaneously serving as a technique for exerting soft power and a propaganda tool.
Edited by Phineas Horan
Image: Giant Panda at Chengdu’s Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, 2005 // CC BY-SA 2.5 ES
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