China will take back all pandas from the United States

All the pandas in the world belong to China, but since 1984, Beijing has been using "panda diplomacy" to improve relations by leasing the animals to foreign countries.
Three giant pandas from the zoo of Washington, the capital of the USA, will return to China in December of this year. This was announced by Mao Ning, the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He was asked if the move reflected the deterioration of the so-called "panda diplomacy" between the US and China.

"Giant pandas are not only China's national treasure, but are welcomed and loved by the peoples of the whole world. They can be called ambassadors and bridges of friendship. We are ready to continue cooperation with the US to strengthen cooperation in the field of endangered species protection," said Mao Ning.

Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the pandas, came to the Washington Zoo in 2000 as part of an agreement with the Chinese Wildlife Association. The pair was supposed to stay ten years for the research and breeding program, but the contract with China was extended several times. In 2020, the couple had a child, who was named Xiao Zi Zi. That year, the zoo signed an agreement to keep the three giant pandas until the end of 2023.

Zoos in Atlanta, San Diego and Memphis in the United States have already returned their pandas to China or will do so by the end of next year, according to Bloomberg. So all the pandas leave the US.

All the pandas in the world belong to China, but Beijing has been leasing the animals to foreign countries since 1984. This mission, used by China to improve relations with foreign countries, is called "panda diplomacy".

In 2021, the Chinese government downgraded pandas to "endangered" status as the wild population began to recover and reached 1,800. China is now building its own network of national parks, which may eventually eliminate the need to send pandas abroad for breeding and conservation.

Bloomberg's source said that the administration of US President Joseph Biden plans to discuss the issue of renting pandas with Beijing.

Asked about the prospects for further negotiations, a US State Department spokesman told the agency that the panda deal was not between governments, but between the National Zoo and the China Wildlife Conservation Association. He noted that the previous cooperation was "a gesture of goodwill on both sides."

Source: Kun.uz