Last November, the star panda duo of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, left the states, heading back to their homeland in China. Since then, the panda enclosure has been left dormant and empty, with repairs and renovations taking place on it. However, with more and more pandas leaving the country as their leases expire, it was looking grim for the future of pandas in the United States, but now a new pair of young 3-year-old pandas are on their way over to take the place in Washington, D.C.’s famous zoo.  

Bao Li and Qing Bao have been specially prepared for the journey aboard the “Panda Express” as they make their way to their new home, being properly quarantined and taken care of as the crew prepares the flight. They are the newest cubs in a long line of special diplomacy China has taken with the United States, one called “Panda Diplomacy”. 

Starting in the Nixon Presidency, Nixon took his ice-breaking trip to the Communist Chinese capital of Beijing. While there,the U.S. first lady, Pat Nixon, noticed the animals at the zoo in Beijing. Charmed by their looks and playful nature, she would notice a box of cigarettes adorned with the lovely animals, and talking to the Chinese Premier, she would say how cute they are, with him responding that he will give her some.  

Weeks later the first pair of pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, would arrive at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. Pat Nixon would remark that a pandemonium was soon to spread throughout the country, and on cue, the country would begin to fall in love with the panda duo.  

In 2000, the zoo launched a 24-hour livestream of the panda enclosure, and since then, it gathered over 100 million views. However, it went offline last year as the then panda duo were removed from the enclosure and sent home. 

This departure marked an end for many as it seemed, along with the many other panda departures, it would be an end for this “panda diplomacy.” Others began to worry that this could mean a change in diplomacy between the two countries in general. As the original sending of pandas was meant to mark a warming up of tensions between the two superpowers, the continuous sending of new pandas and the subsequent sending of funds back to China to lease them showed a partnership between the governments. With the pandas gone and a heightening of tension building between the countries again, it seemed like a grim future.

This is why the announcement of new panda cubs marks such a pivotal moment in international relations. As the world heats up once again andChinese-American relations become a tense battleground, it can be difficult to see a positive. It also shows a whole new step in conservation, as the continued cooperation and funding that comes in through these leases truly helps boost the ability of some organizations to keep these animals going.  

Some in China, however, are unhappy with the new move to send back pandas to the states. Due to misinformation spread about how one of the pandas was kept in a Memphis Zoo, a group of people took to the internet to express their hatred. Calling to not send over any of the creatures as they believed it could be more of a danger than a benefit, also fueled by anti-American rhetoric. However, the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda would later come out to ensure the safety of the animals and to help keep people from listening to any dangerous information on the internet.  

These pandas symbolize a door to a whole new era and a new form of Panda Diplomacy.