No more free Pandas

Panda diplomacy a thing of the past, say Chinese authorities

BEIJING — The world's cuddliest diplomats are out of a job.

China will no longer give giant pandas to foreign countries as a way of improving international relations, local media reported.

Ending a 1,300-year tradition, wildlife officials said the endangered animals would only be lent for breeding and biological research. There are believed to be only 1,600 pandas in the wild.

But questions are likely to be raised about the financial motives behind a decision, as they are rented out to zoos for as much as US$1 million ($1.51 million) a year.

Panda diplomacy dates back to the Tang dynasty and reached its peak in 1972 when China sent Hsing Hsing and Ling Ling to the United States after breakthrough talks.

"The Chinese government has stopped giving pandas as gifts abroad. We will only be conducting research with foreign countries," the website quoted Cao Qingyuan, a state forestry administration spokesman, as saying.

Under the rent-a-panda scheme, the forestry administration rents them out on 10-year leases.

The charge to foreign zoos depends on a number of factors, including visitor revenues.

In the United States and Japan, the yearly fees are about US$1 million.

Extra payments are also made if the pandas give birth.

China would give pandas as presents only to Hong Kong, which was returned to China in 1997, and to Taiwan, the neighbouring self-ruled island China considers its own.

"This is an activity of sending pandas between brothers," Mr Cao said.

Source: Weekend TODAY, September 15-16, 2007.