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Panda diplomacy
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Panda diplomacy
Panda diplomacy (Chinese: 熊猫外交) is the practice of sending giant pandas from China to other countries as a tool of diplomacy and wildlife conservation. From 1941 to 1984, the Chinese government gifted pandas to other countries. Since 1984, they have been leased rather than gifted due to a PRC policy change.
While there are few ancient records of the giant panda, "During the Manchu dynasty skins of this animal [bei-shung, presumed to be the panda] were sent as tribute to the government of China by the aborigines of western Szechuan and eastern Tibet", according to David Crockett Graham.
The first instance of panda diplomacy in the modern era was arranged by Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang) in 1941. China was under siege by Japan, the U.S. had been sending aid to the Kuomintang (Nationalist Government) in China, and Madame Chiang wanted a dramatic way of saying thank you. There had been previous pandas sent to the U.S., including one named Su Lin sold to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago by Ruth Harkness in 1937, a second one named Mei-Mei brought back by Harkness in 1938 and also sold to the Brookfield Zoo, one named Pandora sent to the Bronx Zoo by David Crockett Graham in 1938, and a second named Pan sent to the Bronx Zoo in 1939. Besides the two live Pandas sent to the Bronx Zoo, Graham had also collected several skins and skeletons that were sent to the Smithsonian.
In the summer of 1941, Madame Chiang enlisted David Crockett Graham to capture a live panda. Eventually, two were caught. After spending some time at Graham's house in Chengdu, they were brought to Chongqing for a formal handover to a representative of the Bronx Zoo. William J. Dunn, a CBS radio reporter, was in Chongqing at the time and was enlisted to emcee the ceremony, which would air on both radio XGOY, "The Voice of China," and CBS Radio. To ensure the program aired during prime time in the U.S., it originated from Chongquing at 4 a.m. local time. Annalee Whitmore, then working as publicity manager for United China Relief, interviewed the participants and wrote the transcript. The broadcast was to include Madame Chiang, her sister Soong Ai-ling (Madame Kung), David Crockett Graham, and John Tee-Van from the Bronx Zoo. The plan was to transmit the XGOY signal to an RCA communications centre in Manila and then on to San Francisco; however, on the morning of November 9, 1941, the engineers were unable to confirm reception from Manila. The broadcast began as planned, but atmospheric conditions prevented the broadcast from reaching the United States.
The pandas were flown to Hong Kong under cover of night and from there to the Philippines on Pan Am's Hong Kong Clipper. From there, they took a circuitous six-week route by ship to San Francisco. Unfortunately, while they were en route, Pearl Harbor was bombed; and, when they arrived in San Francisco in late December 1941, front-page news was all about war. While the pandas did get attention, they weren't at the top of the news across the nation as had been hoped. The bears were officially received by the Bronx Zoo on December 30, 1941, and five months later, following a national contest, they were named Pan-dee and Pan-dah.
While the Republic of China used giant pandas for diplomatic means as early as 1941, The People's Republic of China began to use panda diplomacy more prominently in the 1950s and has continued the practice into the present day. Between 1957 and 1983, 24 pandas were given as gifts to 9 nations as gestures of friendship. These nations included the Soviet Union, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom.
When President Nixon visited China in 1972, Mao Zedong promised to send two pandas to an American zoo. In exchange, Nixon gave two musk oxen to the Chinese as a gift. The mutual gifts illustrated the growing diplomatic relationship between China and the United States at the time. Despite the long history of panda diplomacy, the arrival of the pandas in 1972 marked the first time a panda had been in the United States in over twenty years.
Upon the pandas' arrival in April 1972, First Lady Pat Nixon donated them to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where she welcomed them in an official ceremony. Over 20,000 people visited the pandas the first day they were on display, and an estimated 1.1 million visitors came to see them the first year they were in the United States. The pandas were wildly popular and China's gift was seen as an enormous diplomatic success, evidence of China's eagerness to establish official relations with the U.S. It was so successful that British Prime Minister Edward Heath asked for pandas for the United Kingdom during a visit to China in 1974. Pandas Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching arrived at the London Zoo a few weeks later. The pandas gifted to the UK would later be the inspiration for the logo of the World Wildlife Fund.
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Panda diplomacy
Panda diplomacy (Chinese: 熊猫外交) is the practice of sending giant pandas from China to other countries as a tool of diplomacy and wildlife conservation. From 1941 to 1984, the Chinese government gifted pandas to other countries. Since 1984, they have been leased rather than gifted due to a PRC policy change.
While there are few ancient records of the giant panda, "During the Manchu dynasty skins of this animal [bei-shung, presumed to be the panda] were sent as tribute to the government of China by the aborigines of western Szechuan and eastern Tibet", according to David Crockett Graham.
The first instance of panda diplomacy in the modern era was arranged by Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang) in 1941. China was under siege by Japan, the U.S. had been sending aid to the Kuomintang (Nationalist Government) in China, and Madame Chiang wanted a dramatic way of saying thank you. There had been previous pandas sent to the U.S., including one named Su Lin sold to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago by Ruth Harkness in 1937, a second one named Mei-Mei brought back by Harkness in 1938 and also sold to the Brookfield Zoo, one named Pandora sent to the Bronx Zoo by David Crockett Graham in 1938, and a second named Pan sent to the Bronx Zoo in 1939. Besides the two live Pandas sent to the Bronx Zoo, Graham had also collected several skins and skeletons that were sent to the Smithsonian.
In the summer of 1941, Madame Chiang enlisted David Crockett Graham to capture a live panda. Eventually, two were caught. After spending some time at Graham's house in Chengdu, they were brought to Chongqing for a formal handover to a representative of the Bronx Zoo. William J. Dunn, a CBS radio reporter, was in Chongqing at the time and was enlisted to emcee the ceremony, which would air on both radio XGOY, "The Voice of China," and CBS Radio. To ensure the program aired during prime time in the U.S., it originated from Chongquing at 4 a.m. local time. Annalee Whitmore, then working as publicity manager for United China Relief, interviewed the participants and wrote the transcript. The broadcast was to include Madame Chiang, her sister Soong Ai-ling (Madame Kung), David Crockett Graham, and John Tee-Van from the Bronx Zoo. The plan was to transmit the XGOY signal to an RCA communications centre in Manila and then on to San Francisco; however, on the morning of November 9, 1941, the engineers were unable to confirm reception from Manila. The broadcast began as planned, but atmospheric conditions prevented the broadcast from reaching the United States.
The pandas were flown to Hong Kong under cover of night and from there to the Philippines on Pan Am's Hong Kong Clipper. From there, they took a circuitous six-week route by ship to San Francisco. Unfortunately, while they were en route, Pearl Harbor was bombed; and, when they arrived in San Francisco in late December 1941, front-page news was all about war. While the pandas did get attention, they weren't at the top of the news across the nation as had been hoped. The bears were officially received by the Bronx Zoo on December 30, 1941, and five months later, following a national contest, they were named Pan-dee and Pan-dah.
While the Republic of China used giant pandas for diplomatic means as early as 1941, The People's Republic of China began to use panda diplomacy more prominently in the 1950s and has continued the practice into the present day. Between 1957 and 1983, 24 pandas were given as gifts to 9 nations as gestures of friendship. These nations included the Soviet Union, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom.
When President Nixon visited China in 1972, Mao Zedong promised to send two pandas to an American zoo. In exchange, Nixon gave two musk oxen to the Chinese as a gift. The mutual gifts illustrated the growing diplomatic relationship between China and the United States at the time. Despite the long history of panda diplomacy, the arrival of the pandas in 1972 marked the first time a panda had been in the United States in over twenty years.
Upon the pandas' arrival in April 1972, First Lady Pat Nixon donated them to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., where she welcomed them in an official ceremony. Over 20,000 people visited the pandas the first day they were on display, and an estimated 1.1 million visitors came to see them the first year they were in the United States. The pandas were wildly popular and China's gift was seen as an enormous diplomatic success, evidence of China's eagerness to establish official relations with the U.S. It was so successful that British Prime Minister Edward Heath asked for pandas for the United Kingdom during a visit to China in 1974. Pandas Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching arrived at the London Zoo a few weeks later. The pandas gifted to the UK would later be the inspiration for the logo of the World Wildlife Fund.