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The debut of new pandas in D.C. marks the latest chapter in China's 'panda diplomacy'

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The debut of new pandas in D.C. marks the latest chapter in China's 'panda diplomacy'

The National Zoo’s first giant pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, play in their yard in 1974 as onlookers watch.

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What’s black, white and back in the nation’s capital? Giant pandas, at last.

Bao Li and Qing Bao, both three years old, are making their public debut at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park (aka the National Zoo) on Friday after months of anticipation and fanfare — including panda-themed pop-up bars, hotel packages and special-edition transit cards.

The pair arrived in D.C. — aboard the fittingly nicknamed “Panda Express” — from China back in October. Since then, they could only be glimpsed occasionally on the zoo’s social media feed (including rolling around in the flurries during a snowstorm earlier this month).

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Now, after a requisite quarantine and brief preview period for zoo members, the panda exhibit and its accompanying Giant Panda Cam are back on full display.

“Bao Li and Qing Bao have already won the hearts of our staff and volunteers, and we are excited to welcome panda fans back to the Zoo — the only place in the nation where you can see giant pandas for free — and celebrate the newest chapter of our giant panda breeding and conservation program,” said Brandie Smith, director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

Scientists estimate there are fewer than 2,000 giant pandas living in the wild, scattered throughout half a dozen mountainous regions in China. About 420 pandas live in captivity in zoos and reserves, mostly but not exclusively in China.

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That’s because, over the last half a century, China has either gifted or loaned its beloved bears to zoos around the world, a practice that’s become known as “panda diplomacy.” In exchange, zoos pay a hefty fee to support panda conservation programs in China.

Under the National Zoo’s agreement, Bao Li and Qing Bao will stay in D.C. until 2034, and any cubs they birth will move to China by age four. The zoo is paying $1 million annually to contribute to projects including restoring giant panda habitat, monitoring wildlife diseases and assessing the impacts of climate change.

In addition to D.C., the San Diego Zoo welcomed two pandas in 2024, while the San Francisco Zoo is anticipating the arrival of a pair this year.

Panda diplomacy is seen as a way for China to not only conserve wildlife but promote goodwill and strengthen diplomatic ties with other countries — bringing a whole new meaning to soft power.

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“Many people don’t realize it, but there are actually two Chinese ambassadors in Washington: me and the panda cub at the National Zoo,” Cui Tiankai, China’s then-ambassador to the U.S., wrote in a 2013 Washington Post op-ed.

Here’s a look at the current state of panda diplomacy — and how we got here.

The early years: Panda-monium starts to spread

Ruth Harkness holds Su Lin at her hotel room in New York City.

Ruth Harkness holds Su Lin at her hotel room in New York City. Su Lin was never intended to be a pet, and ended up at a Chicago zoo.

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The first living giant panda exhibited in the U.S. was named Su Lin. The three-month-old cub was captured and brought over from China in 1936 by American fashion designer and socialite Ruth Harkness, who was inspired to carry out her late husband’s dream.

Su Lin, who was named after Harkness’ Chinese guide’s sister-in-law — he was believed to be female until after his death — ended up at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo, where he became a star attraction, winning over celebrity admirers including Shirley Temple. He died of pneumonia in 1938, just weeks after Harkness brought back another panda from China — Mei Mei — to join him. Su Lin’s body is still on display at Chicago’s Field Museum.

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Foreigners captured and took over a dozen pandas from China over the next decade, according to the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), whose logo happens to be a panda. By the 1940s, China sought to end the exploitation of its pandas by foreigners, but recognized it had something special to offer its friends.

E. Elena Songster, a history professor at St. Mary’s College of California who authored Panda Nation: The Construction and Conservation of China’s Modern Icon, told WBUR in 2024 that the first time pandas were used “as diplomatic expression” was in 1941.

“Chiang Kai-shek’s wife, Soong Mei-ling, offered a pair of pandas to the United States as an expression of gratitude for our assistance with them in their war of resistance against Japan,” she explained.

The People’s Republic of China continued that practice in the years after it took over in 1949. The U.S. initially didn’t recognize and tried to weaken the communist government, forbade American citizens from visiting the country and encouraged its allies not to have diplomatic relations with China.

China began gifting pandas to its allies, including the Soviet Union and North Korea. It sent its first panda ambassadors, Ping Ping and Qi Qi, to the Soviet Union in 1957 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the October Revolution, writes Yu Tao, a professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Western Australia.

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Between 1957 and 1983, the country sent 24 pandas to foreign countries, including the U.S.

Mid-20th century: Panda diplomacy reaches the U.S. 

First lady Patricia Nixon welcomes China's giant pandas to Washington's National Zoo.

First lady Patricia Nixon welcomes China’s giant pandas to Washington’s National Zoo on April 20, 1972. The tradition of China sending pandas to U.S. zoos has continued ever since.

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The U.S. and China began to warm to each other throughout the 1970s, with President Richard Nixon’s landmark 1972 visit signaling the beginning of a policy of engagement.

A pivotal moment came when China gave its first pair of pandas to the U.S., just months after Nixon’s trip.

At a dinner in Beijing, while seated next to Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai, First Lady Patricia Nixon commented on a box of cigarettes decorated with pandas: “Aren’t they cute? I love them.”

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“I’ll give you some,” he replied, according to the Richard Nixon Foundation.

Zhou gifted two giant pandas to the U.S., and the Nixons chose the National Zoo as their home.

Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrived in April 1972 and lived at the zoo for the next two decades. They drew millions of visitors until their deaths in 1992 and 1999, and set a new tradition in motion.

“[The gift] made a huge splash because the U.S. was a former enemy state, and so it was a giant gesture of diplomatic friendship,” Songster explains. “And from that moment, [China] saw how warmly welcomed the pandas were and how popular they were and how useful they were for putting a friendly face on China.”

By 1979, the U.S. and China had established full diplomatic relations.

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As other countries — including West Germany and Japan — recognized Beijing in the early 1970s, they received pandas of their own. Soon, however, the practice began to look unsustainable.

Turn of the millennium: Gifts turn into loans

National Zoo visitors welcome Tian Tian and Mei Xiang to their new home in December 2000.

National Zoo visitors welcome Tian Tian and Mei Xiang to their new home in December 2000. They returned to China with their cub in late 2023.

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In the mid-1980s, China stopped giving pandas as gifts over concerns about its ability to maintain the wild population.

“And also at that time, there was a panda starvation scare, because there was a huge bamboo die-off in the pandas’ range,” Songster explained. “And so from that point forward, they started loaning them.”

That shift also embodied “China’s market-orientated economic reforms,” Tao wrote, with bears bringing in some $500,000 to $1 million per year.

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While loan periods were initially relatively short, by the 1990s they had grown to at least 10 years, Songster said, proving less stressful for the animals and more conducive to reproduction.

In 1998, the U.S. shifted its acceptance policy to only allow a panda to reside stateside if China devoted more than half of its annual fee to conservation efforts, according to the History Channel.

Today: What pandas can tell us about politics  

Wang Wang the panda chews on a box as South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and China's Premier Li Qiang listen to a zoo ranger.

Wang Wang the panda chews on a box as South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and China’s Premier Li Qiang listen to a ranger at Adelaide Zoo in Australia in June 2024 — the first high-level diplomatic outreach by a Chinese leader to Australia since 2017.

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Scholars have noted that China’s panda strategy has evolved over the decades from strategic gift-giving to a financial transaction to, as of recent years, a symbol of trade relationships.

Indeed, many of China’s panda loans have coincided with trade deals. Shortly after the Edinburgh Zoo received two pandas in 2011, Scotland and China signed trade agreements involving salmon and renewable energy technology. The loan of two pandas to Germany in 2017 overlapped with Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s visit to Berlin.

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The timing of panda loans has also seemed to reflect the level of tension between China and other nations.

The arrival of two pandas to Malaysia in 2014 — to mark the 40th anniversary of its diplomatic ties with Beijing — was delayed by several months because of disagreements over Malaysia’s handling of the disappearance of Flight MH370 (many of its passengers were Chinese).

In November 2023, the National Zoo sent its three pandas — Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, who had lived there since 2000, and their cub Xiao Qi Ji — back to China, in advance of the expiration of their loan agreement and amidst rising tensions between the two countries.

There was no agreement in place at the time for a new set of pandas to head to D.C., and Atlanta was left as the only zoo in the country housing any pandas.

A week later, however, Xi signaled openness to sending more pandas to the U.S., specifically California. And in May 2024, the official announcement came down: A pair of pandas — Bao Li and Qing Bao — would arrive in the States by the end of the year.

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Senate Adopts GOP Budget, Laying the Groundwork to Fund ICE and Reopen DHS

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Senate Adopts GOP Budget, Laying the Groundwork to Fund ICE and Reopen DHS

The Senate early Thursday morning adopted a Republican budget blueprint that would pave the way for a $70 billion increase for immigration enforcement and the eventual reopening of the Department of Homeland Security.

Republicans pushed through the plan on a nearly party-line vote of 50 to 48. It came after an overnight marathon of rapid-fire votes, known as a vote-a-rama, in which the G.O.P. beat back a series of Democratic proposals aimed at addressing the high cost of health care, housing, food and energy. The debate put the two parties’ dueling messages on vivid display six months before the midterm elections.

Republicans, who are using the budget plan to lay the groundwork to eventually push through a filibuster-proof bill providing a multiyear funding stream for President Trump’s immigration crackdown, used the all-night session to highlight their hard-line stance on border security, seeking to portray Democrats as unwilling to safeguard the country.

Democrats tried and failed to add a series of changes aimed at addressing cost-of-living issues, seizing the opportunity to hammer Republicans as out of touch with and unwilling to act on the concerns of everyday Americans.

Here’s what to know about the budget plan and the nocturnal ritual senators engaged in before adopting it.

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The budget blueprint is a crucial piece of Republicans’ plan to fund the Department of Homeland Security and end a shutdown that has lasted for more than two months. After Democrats refused to fund immigration enforcement without new restrictions on agents’ tactics and conduct, the G.O.P. struck a deal with them to pass a spending bill that would fund everything but ICE and the Border Patrol. Republicans said they would fund those agencies through a special budget bill that Democrats could not block.

“We can fix this with Republican votes, and we will,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and the Budget Committee chairman. “Every Democrat has opposed money for the Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great peril.”

In resorting to a new budget blueprint, Republicans laid the groundwork to deny Democrats a chance to stop the immigration enforcement funding. But they also submitted themselves to a vote-a-rama, in which any senator can propose unlimited changes to such a measure before it is adopted.

The budget measure now goes to the House, which must adopt it before lawmakers in both chambers can draft the legislation funding immigration enforcement. That bill will provide yet another opportunity for a vote-a-rama even closer to the November election.

Democrats took to the floor to criticize Republicans for supercharging funding for federal immigration enforcement rather than moving legislation that would address Americans’ concerns over affordability.

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“This is what Republicans are fighting for,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the Democratic leader. “To maintain two unchecked rogue agencies that are dreaded in all corners of this country instead of reducing your health care costs, your housing costs, your grocery costs, your gas costs.”

Democrats offered a host of amendments along those lines, all of which were defeated by Republicans — and that was the point. The proposals were meant to put the G.O.P. in a tough political spot, showcasing their opposition to helping Americans afford high living costs. Fewer than a handful of G.O.P. senators crossed party lines to support them.

The G.O.P. thwarted an effort by Mr. Schumer to require that the budget measure lower out-of-pocket health care costs for Americans. Two Republicans who are up for re-election this year, Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, voted with Democrats, but the proposal was still defeated.

Republicans also squelched a move by Senator Ben Ray Lujan, Democrat of New Mexico, to create a fund that would lower grocery costs and reverse cuts to food aid programs that Republicans enacted last year. Ms. Collins and Mr. Sullivan again joined Democrats.

Also defeated by the G.O.P.: a proposal by Senator John Hickenlooper, Democrat of Colorado, to address rising consumer prices brought on by Mr. Trump’s tariffs and the war in Iran; one by Senator Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, to require the budget measure to address rising electricity prices, and another by Mr. Markey to create a fund to bring down housing costs.

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Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat who is up for re-election in Georgia, also sought to add language requiring the budget plan to address health insurance companies denying or delaying access to care, but that, too was blocked by Republicans.

While Republicans had fewer proposals for changes to their own budget plan, they also sought to offer measures that would underscore their aggressive stance on immigration enforcement and dare Democrats to vote against them.

Mr. Graham offered an amendment to allocate funds toward a deficit-neutral reserve fund relating to the apprehension and deportation of adult immigrants convicted of rape, murder, or sexual abuse of a minor after illegally entering the United States. It passed unanimously.

Senator Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, sought to bar Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, which provides abortion and other services, and criticized the organization for providing transgender care to minors. Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, also attempted to tack on the G.O.P. voter identification bill, known as the SAVE America Act. Both proposals were blocked when Democrats, joined by a few Republicans, voted to strike them as unrelated to the budget plan.

The Republicans who crossed party lines to oppose their own party’s proposals for new voting requirements were Ms. Collins along with Senators Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

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Ms. Collins and Ms. Murkowski also opposed the effort to block payments to Planned Parenthood.

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Who is John Phelan, the US Navy Secretary fired by Pete Hegseth?

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Who is John Phelan, the US Navy Secretary fired by Pete Hegseth?

The firing of US Navy Secretary John Phelan is the latest in a shakeup of the American military during the war on Iran, now in its eighth week.

The Pentagon said Phelan would leave office immediately.

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“On behalf of the Secretary of War and Deputy Secretary of War, we are grateful to Secretary Phelan for his service to the Department and the United States Navy,” said chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell. “We wish him well in his future endeavours”.

His firing comes at a critical moment, with US naval forces enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports and ships, and maintaining a heavy presence around the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas passes during peacetime.

Although the Pentagon gave no official reason for the dismissal, reports indicate the decision was linked to internal disputes, including tensions with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

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Phelan’s removal is part of a broader pattern of dismissals and restructuring within the US military under President Donald Trump’s administration – including during the current war.

So, who is John Phelan, and what impact could his firing have on US military strategy?

Who is John Phelan?

As the US Navy’s top civilian official, Phelan had various responsibilities, including overseeing recruiting, mobilising and organising, as well as construction and repair of ships and military equipment.

He was appointed in 2024 as a political ally of Trump, despite having no prior military or defence leadership experience.

Before entering government, Phelan was a businessman and investment executive, as well as a major Republican donor and fundraiser — a background that is fairly common among Trump appointees and advisers. The US president’s two top diplomatic negotiators, for instance, are Steve Witkoff — a real estate businessman with no prior diplomatic experience – and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

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According to the Reuters news agency, Phelan’s tenure quickly became controversial. He faced criticism for moving too slowly on shipbuilding reforms and for strained relationships with key Pentagon figures, including Hegseth and his deputy, Steve Feinberg.

rump with U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General Michael Borgschulte and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan (R) before the game between the Navy Midshipmen and the Army West Point Black Knights at M&T Bank Stadium [File: Tommy Gilligan/Imagn Images/Reuters]

In addition, Phelan was reportedly under an ethics investigation, which may have weakened his standing in the administration.

Navy Undersecretary Hung Cao, who was also reported to have a difficult relationship with Phelan, has become acting secretary. Fifty-four-year-old Cao is a 25-year Navy veteran who previously ran as a Republican candidate for the US Senate and House of Representatives in 2022 and 2024 respectively, but was unsuccessful on both occasions.

Democrats have criticised Phelan’s removal, calling it “troubling”.

“I am concerned it is yet another example of the instability and dysfunction that have come to define the Department of Defense under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth,” said Senator Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Who else has the Trump administration fired since the war with Iran began?

Phelan’s removal is the latest in a series of senior military leaders being fired or are leaving during the US-Israeli war on Iran, in addition to others since Trump was re-elected.

Among the most notable dismissals was Army Chief of Staff General Randy A. George, in the first week of April. George was appointed in 2023 under former US President Joe Biden.

According to reports, Hegseth also fired the head of the Army’s Transformation and Training Command, a unit concerned with modernising the army, and the Army’s chief of chaplains. The Pentagon has not confirmed their dismissal.

Why is Phelan’s dismissal significant?

The 62-year-old’s removal comes during a fragile ceasefire with Iran, as the ⁠⁠US continues to move more naval assets into the region.

The Navy is central to enforcing Trump’s blockade of Iranian ports to restrict Iran’s oil exports and apply economic pressure on Tehran, as the US president looks eager to wrap up the war, which is deeply unpopular to many Americans.

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However, there are no indications that Trump is willing to end the blockade or other naval operations in the Strait of Hormuz, as negotiations between Washington and Tehran have come to a standstill.

Tensions have escalated in recent days after the US military seized an Iranian container ship. The US claimed it was attempting to sail from the Arabian Sea through the Strait of Hormuz to the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.

Tehran responded by describing the attack and hijack as an act of “piracy”.

Iran has since captured two cargo ships and fired at another.

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Not a Deal-Breaker: White House Downplays Iranian Action Near the Strait

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Not a Deal-Breaker: White House Downplays Iranian Action Near the Strait

Just two weeks ago, President Trump threatened to wipe out Iran’s civilization if it did not open the Strait of Hormuz. Days later, he said any Iranian “who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”

Yet on Wednesday, after Iran seized two ships near the Strait of Hormuz, the White House was quick to argue the action was not a deal breaker for potential peace negotiations.

“These were not U.S. ships,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said on Fox News. “These were not Israeli ships.” Therefore, she explained, the Iranians had not violated a cease-fire with the United States that Mr. Trump has extended indefinitely.

She cautioned the news media against “blowing this out of proportion.”

The surprisingly tolerant tone from the White House suggests Mr. Trump is not eager to reignite a war that he started alongside Israel on Feb. 28 — a war that has proved unpopular with Americans and has gone on longer than he initially estimated.

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The president on Tuesday extended a cease-fire between the United States and Iran that had been set to expire within hours, saying he wanted to give Tehran a chance to come up with a new proposal to end the war.

The American military has displayed its overwhelming might during the war, successfully striking thousands of targets. But it remains unclear whether Mr. Trump will accomplish the political objectives of the war.

The Iranian regime, even after its top leaders were killed, is still intact. Iran has not agreed to Mr. Trump’s demands to turn over its nuclear capabilities to the United States or significantly curtail them. And the Strait of Hormuz, a key passageway for world commerce that was open before the war, remains closed.

Nevertheless, the White House has repeatedly highlighted the military successes on the battlefield as evidence it is winning the war.

“We have completely confused and obliterated their regime,” Ms. Leavitt said on Fox Wednesday. “They are in a very weak position thanks to the actions taken by President Trump and our great United States armed forces, and so we will continue this important mission on our own.”

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The oscillation between threats and a more conciliatory tone has long been one of Mr. Trump’s signature negotiating strategies.

Potential peace talks between the two countries are on hold. Vice President JD Vance had been poised to fly to Islamabad for negotiations. But the trip was postponed until Iran can “come up with a unified proposal,” Mr. Trump said.

The United States recently transmitted a written proposal to the Iranians intended to establish base-line points of agreement that could frame more detailed negotiations. The document covers a broad range of issues, but the core sticking points are the same ones that have bedeviled Western negotiators for more than a decade: the scope of Iran’s uranium enrichment program and the fate of its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Mr. Trump has not spoken publicly about the cease-fire, other than on social media. On Wednesday, he also posted about topics including “my Apprentice Juggernaut” — a reference to his former television show; the Virginia elections, which he called “rigged”; and a new book about Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.

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