The bear facts

The Lowy Interpreter looks at China’s ‘panda diplomacy’ (article especially recommended for those who like using the word ‘gifted’ instead of ‘given’ or ‘donated’)…

The sudden influx of pandas to California reflects the pro-China stance of Californian officials, which contrasts with nationwide efforts to bolster defences against perceived threats from China.

…Beijing also leverages pandas to enhance its image in territories it controls or seeks to control. Hong Kong has just received its third pair of giant pandas. In Taiwan’s case, Beijing sent two pandas (aptly named Tuan-Tuan and Yuan-Yuan or Unification) to Taipei in 2008 following the inauguration of the China-friendly Ma Ying-jeou administration. This transfer bypassed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, thereby underscoring Beijing’s assertion regarding Taiwan’s provincial status.

…Zoos hosting pandas must pay up to US$1 million annually to support panda conservation efforts in Sichuan Province. However, The New York Times suggests that the money does not necessarily go towards conserving pandas in their natural habitat. Additional expenses involve building special facilities, providing veterinary care and sourcing tonnes of bamboo.

…Cuddly pandas symbolise a generous, friendly and peaceful China. Panda loan announcements, often made during state visits by Chinese leaders, receive extensive local and international media coverage. 

…However, there is little evidence to support the claim that panda diplomacy “benefits China as a tool of public diplomacy”. 

I hate to encourage those less-talented pub quiz question-setters who rely on ‘a murder of crows’ and similar idiocies, but did you know the collective noun for pandas is an ‘embarrassment’? Rather apt, you might think. We should really spell out the truth about these animals: they are not ‘friendly’, just immensely stupid. And there’s this…

Pandas have been ridiculed for their decidedly non-bearlike vegetarian diets, their apparent lack of interest in—and aptitude for—sex, their tendency to spend the majority of their time sitting, eating, scratching … and defecating (about 40 times per day)—even for being, shall we say, plump. These rather “unfit” characteristics have made the giant panda a favorite animal of creationists, who argue that the panda’s survival proves the existence of God. How is it, they ask, that such a species could have “evolved” to be so poorly suited for survival and could have lasted these “alleged” tens of thousands of years without a little help from a higher power? 

They also smell utterly repulsive if you get up close to them.*

On the subject of warm and cuddly, a Global Times Twitter post says…

In response to an inquiry regarding claim by the Taiwan island’s “defense ministry” that it had received 38 advanced Abrams battle tanks from the US, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday that there is no such a thing as the so-called “defense ministry” in Taiwan. 

Well someone took delivery of the things.

_{*Maybe – I have no idea.}