WATCH | Japan bids emotional farewell to last two pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei before China return
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "WATCH | Japan bids emotional farewell to last two pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei before China return")
Photograph: (A screengrab from the viral video)
This will be the first time since 1972 that Japan will be left without the beloved animals. Propects of their replacement remain thin owing to the strain in ties between Tokoyo and Beijing.
Japan bid a tearful farewell to its last two giant pandas, twins Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, on Monday (Jan 26), as they prepared for their return to China. Massive crowds gathered at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo to catch a final glimpse of the beloved creatures before their scheduled departure on Tuesday. In videos circulating on social media, zoo staff and emotional visitors can be seen in tears as they say goodbye to the twins, whose departure marks the first time in over 50 years that Japan will be without any giant pandas.
The two pandas at a Tokyo Zoo are set to return to their homeland, China, on Tuesday. This will be the first time since 1972 that Japan will be left without the beloved animals. Propects of their replacement remain thin owing to the strain in ties between Tokoyo and Beijing.
The twins Xiao and Lei Lei, who were born in 2021 at the Uno Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo, became favourites among visitors. However, they remain on loan from China and have to be returned amid strained ties between the two countries over geopolitical tensions as Beijing ramps up pressure on Taiwan.
Loaned under China’s “panda diplomacy” programme, the distinctive black-and-white animals have long symbolised friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since the two countries normalised diplomatic relations in 1972.
Panda diplomacy
China’s “panda diplomacy” began in 1957 when Beijing gifted a giant panda to the Soviet Union as a gesture of friendship. The practice involves loaning the animals abroad as symbols of goodwill and soft power. The practice gained prominence after 1972, following the normalisation of ties with the US and Japan. The pandas remain Chinese property and are recalled when contracts end, with several returning from the US, Finland, and France.
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