Pandas: China’s Most Popular DiplomatsLinda ZhangJUNE 2021AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTEExecutive SummaryGiant pandas are the most popular attractions at zoos worldwide, but which countries get these highly prized vulnerable species from the People’s Republic of China (PRC)? The answer is surprisingly complex and depends on the host country’s economy size and trade relationship with the PRC. The PRC’s deployment of giant pandas is a deliberate part of its soft-power diplomacy that complements its broader bilateral relationships. A giant panda loan often coincides with major diplomatic events and trade deals. However, panda diplomacy is still a limited tool, and it cannot sustain positive relationsbetween China and panda host countries in the longer term.This report aims to help policymakers and the public understand how countries are selected to host giant pandas. It begins with an overview of the history of panda diplomacy. It then examines the relationship between panda diplomacy and a country’s gross domestic product and trade volume with the PRC. Finally, the report looks at case studies of countries that received giant pandas and examines how the panda loans affected their recent relationship with General Secretary Xi Jinping’s government.Cover photo of Xiao Qi Ji by Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. 1Pandas: China’s Most Popular DiplomatsLinda ZhangLast year at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, baby panda Xiao Qi Ji was born. Hailed a “miracle cub” because Xiao Qi Ji’s mother, Mei Xiang, is the oldest successfully artificially inseminated giant panda in the US, the tiny panda attracted huge attention. The locked-down public spent so much time watching baby Xiao Qi Ji that the zoo’s panda cam crashed (Figure 1).1 Although polls at the time showed Americans increasingly distrusted China amid the COVID-19 global pandemic that started there, Xiao Qi Ji was a bright spot in an otherwise dismal year for US-China relations, telling China’s story well and putting a cute face on the country. Chinese diplomats almost certainly chalk this up as a soft-power win. The pandas are on loan from the People’s Republic of China (PRC)—and Xiao Qi Ji, born in America, remains Chinese state property per the terms of the loan.Animal diplomacy is not uniquely Chinese; the Australian government gifted platypuses to Britain and the United States in the 1940s, and India practiced “elephant diplomacy” under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.2 But Chinese panda diplomacy is uniquely deliberate and extensive. According to the Global Times, a state-run news outlet, giant pandas go on “international missions” and are “panda diplomats.”3 Since giant pandas serve policy purposes, we should examine how the PRC deploys them. By examining the recipients of panda loans, I find that Beijing deploys panda diplomats to its largest trading partners that are also large, developed economies. Panda diplomacy provides a momentary injection of goodwill and often coincides with major diplomatic events and trade deals. That being said, panda diplomacy isa limited tool, and it cannot sustain positive relations between China and panda host countries in the longer term.A Brief History of Panda DiplomacyThe history of panda diplomacy goes back to at least the Tang Dynasty, when Empress Wu Zetian gifted two “white bears” to Emperor Tenmu of Japan in 685 AD.4 The first case of panda diplomacy in the PRC’s history was the 1957 gift of pandas Ping Ping and Qi Qi to the Soviet Union.5 Giant pandas also played a role in the PRC’s establishment of diplomatic relations with the US, with First Lady Pat Nixon personally greeting giant pandas Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing when they arrived in Washington amid US-Chinese rapprochement in 1972. The pandas traveled to Washington, DC, “under security measures as tight as if they had been Chairman Mao.”6Today, when China’s relations with the world are increasingly tense, giant pandas remain a prominent tool to reach international audiences.7 A January 2021 study found that state broadcaster CCTV’s official panda cam was one of the few Chinese government accounts that experienced increased engagement after Twitter introduced labels for state media and government accounts in August 2020.8Figure 2 shows the number of panda diplomats the PRC deployed from 1957 to 2019. The figure shows a connection between the number of giant pandas sent abroad and broader foreign policy trends. Beijing gifted pandas to France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States in the years2PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATS Figure 1. Mother Mei Xiang and Baby Xiao Qi Ji at the Smithsonian’s National ZooLINDA ZHANGSource: Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.Figure 2. History of PRC Panda Diplomacy8 7 6China Joins World Trade Organization and Signs Its First Free Trade AgreementChina's "Going Out" in the Xi Jinping EraNumber of Pandas 19635Nixon Summit andReestablishment ofDiplomatic Relations43 Soviet and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Pandas2Deng Xiaoping's Open Door PolicyHong Kong Handover10 1955 19591967 1971 1975Tiananmen Square Massacre1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 20172019Source: Author’s research.3PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGimmediately following the Nixons’ 1972 visit. There was then a small spike in pandas gifted during the early years of Deng Xiaoping’s “opening and reform.”The 1980s were characterized by a series of shortterm loans of pandas to zoos as China shifted from gifting giant pandas to establishing ownership of all pandas and renting them to countries under 10-year loans. (This may sound familiar from Chinese economic policy.) Panda diplomacy picked up steam again in the 1990s as China sought to restore goodwill after the Tiananmen Square massacre and lay the foundation for its participation in the international trade system. The United States was the big recipient of this favor, gaining nine giant pandas across four zoos during this period.Panda diplomacy has again increased since Xi Jinping took power in 2012. China has reached loan agreements and sent pandas abroad every year of Xi’s administration, except for 2015.9 This is consistent with Xi’s establishment of the Belt and Road Initiative and his broader goal of expanding China’s foreign policy presence. The peak in panda diplomacy in Xi’s era even coincides with the peak in Chinese investment spending abroad.10Giant pandas are not dispersed randomly, and the PRC has to be sparing with this limited resource. The next section examines the destination of giant pandas that the PRC gifted or signed loan agreements for after 1972 (excluding pandas on short-term loans in the 1980s).Which Countries Get Pandas?“I want to see a panda,” many young children have said. But who gets to see them is a surprisingly serious matter, stemming in part from the economic relationship the host country has with the PRC.A 2013 Oxford University study found that panda loans coincided with trade deals for supplying China with resources and technology. The study cites the United Kingdom’s panda loan deal as negotiated around the same time as a $4.0 billion contract to supply China with salmon meat, Land Rovers, and petrochemical and renewable energy technology.The study also connects free trade agreements (FTA) with panda loan deals.11 The establishment of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations–China Free Trade Area in 2010 coincided with an extension of Thailand’s panda deal, and Singapore and Malaysia received their giant pandas in 2012 and 2014, respectively.While these findings are compelling in the case of the United Kingdom and China’s Southeast Asian neighbors, they do not explain why many other countries that have FTAs or resource interests with China are not graced with giant pandas. Twelve of 15 of China’s top crude oil suppliers do not have pandas. A majority of countries with existing bilateral FTAs or in discussions for bilateral FTAs are also panda-free. (See Tables 1 and 2.) The balance of evidence suggests China is not consistently using giant pandas as a carrot in trade negotiations.Instead, the overall size of the country’s economy and trade volume with China explains the incidences of panda diplomacy. According to Figure 3, 2019 gross domestic product (GDP) correlates with the number of pandas China has gifted or loaned to the country. The United States, as the largest national economy, has received the most pandas throughout the years, and Japan, the second-largest economy in the group of panda receivers, is the second-most popular destination. There are two justifications: (1) Caring for giant pandas has a high cost, and (2) larger economies have a larger trade relationship with China.For the panda’s well-being, the Chinese government considers climate, facilities, technology, and potential habitat when it evaluates loan applications.12 Large economies and developed economies with high GDP per capita are favored to home giant pandas because they are the best equipped to meet these standards. The panda house in the Copenhagen Zoo costs $24 million and was privately funded.13 Countries that want to host may also need to overcome climate challenges. Australia, for example, helps pandas overcome the hot summers with a $5.7 million enclosure with refrigerated rocks. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, DC, pumps air conditioning into the panda grottos during the summer and grows its own bamboo.144PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGTable 1. Panda Status of China’s Top Crude Oil ImportersCountry Saudi Arabia Russia Iraq Angola Brazil Oman Kuwait United Arab Emirates Iran United Kingdom Congo Malaysia Colombia Libya VenezuelaPercentage of China’s Total Imported Crude Oil in 2019Pandas Gifted or Loaned (Yesor No)16.8%No15.3%Yes9.9%No9.5%No7.8%No6.9%No4.5%No3.1%No3%No2.7%Yes2.3%No2.3%Yes2.3%No2%No1.9%NoSource: Author’s research; and Daniel Workman, “Top 15 Crude Oil Suppliers to China,” World’s Top Exports, http://www. worldstopexports.com/top-15-crude-oil-suppliers-to-china/.Figure 4 shows the relationship between GDP and trade volume with China in 2019. Countries with larger economies naturally engage in more trade with China in absolute terms. Figure 5 shows trade volume is an even better indicator than GDP is of the number of pandas China has gifted or loaned. Trade volume is tied to panda presence, even controlling for economic size. (See appendix.) The United States leads the list with 11 pandas, followed by Japan with nine pandas and South Korea with four pandas. These three countries were China’s top three trading partners in 2019. Out of China’s top 10 trading partners in 2019, only two, Vietnam and Brazil, do not have giant pandas on loan (Table 3). A further breakdown shows that China’s imports have a slightly stronger correlation than China’s exports do for panda access after controllingTable 2. Panda Status of China’s FTA PartnersCountry Australia BangladeshCambodiaBilateral FTA Pandas GiftedStatus with China or Loanedin 2020(Yes or No)YesYesUnder ConsiderationNoNegotiations ConcludedNoCanada ChileUnder ConsiderationYesYesNoCosta RicaYesNoColombiaUnder ConsiderationNoFijiUnder ConsiderationNoGeorgiaYesNoIcelandYesNoIsraelUnder NegotiationNoMaldivesYesNoMauritius MoldovaYesNoUnder NegotiationNoMongolia NepalUnder ConsiderationNoUnder ConsiderationNoNew ZealandNorway Pakistan PanamaYesUnder Negotiation YesUnder NegotiationYes (Temporary Exhibit) No No NoPapua New GuineaUnder NegotiationNoPeruYesNoSingaporeYesYesSouth KoreaYes (Second Phase Under Negotiation)YesSri LankaUnder NegotiationNoSwitzerlandYes (Upgrade Under Consideration)NoSource: Author’s research; and Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, “China’s FTA Network,” accessed April 20, 2021, http://fta.mofcom.gov.cn/english/fta_qianshu. shtml.5PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGFigure 3. Relationship Between GDP and Pandas1614Number of Gi ed or Loaned Pandas1210864200510152025GDP 2019, USD TrillionsSource: Author’s research; and World Bank, “GDP (Current US$),” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ NY.GDP.MKTP.CD.Figure 4. Relationship Between GDP and Trade Volume0.7Trade Volume 2019, USD Trillions0.60.50.40.30.20.100510152025GDP 2019, USD TrillionsSource: International Monetary Fund, “Exports, FOB to Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.imf.org/regular. aspx?key=61013712; International Monetary Fund, “Imports, CIF from Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data. imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61013712; International Monetary Fund, “World Economic Outlook Databases,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/SPROLLs/world-economic-outlook-databases; and World Bank, “GDP (Current US$),” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD.6PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGFigure 5. Relationship Between Trade Volume and Pandas 12Number of Gi ed and Loaned Pandas108642000.10.20.30.40.50.6Trade Volume 2019, USD TrillionsSource: Author’s research; International Monetary Fund, “Exports, FOB to Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data. imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61013712; and International Monetary Fund, “Imports, CIF from Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61013712.Table 3. Panda Status of China’s Top 10 Trading PartnersCountry United States Japan South Korea Taiwan Germany Australia Vietnam Malaysia Brazil RussiaTrade Volume (2019, MillionsUSD) 541,820 314,747 284,538 227,881 184,743 167,712 162,083 124,112 114,681 109,742Number of Gifted or Loaned Pandas11 9 4 2 4 2 0 2 0 2Source: Author’s research; International Monetary Fund, “Exports, FOB to Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61013712; and International Monetary Fund, “Imports, CIF from Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.imf.org/regular. aspx?key=61013712.for GDP (see appendix), suggesting Beijing may be using giant pandas to help protect market access.Case StudiesCase studies of giant panda recipients show an initial warming of relations after a delivery, particularly in the economic space. But giant pandas are insufficient to soothe over military and security-related issues. Although recipient countries’ circumstances are different, we can see from the United States and South Korea improvements in relations surrounding the panda gift. We can also see changes in panda diplomacy when relations with China sour.United States. The United States remains the PRC’s largest trading partner and most frequently receives giant pandas (Figure 6). Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing in 1972 were a prominent symbol of diplomatic rapprochement. The United States received its next batch of pandas in the late ’90s and early 2000s, as the PRC sought to rebuild its international presence7PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGFigure 6. Mother Mei Xiang and Baby Bei Bei at the Smithsonian’s National ZooSource: Flickr user Michelle Lee, Creative Commons.and join the World Trade Organization. These pandas went to zoos across the country (in Atlanta, Georgia; Memphis, Tennessee; San Diego, California; and Washington, DC), and their loans were successfully renegotiated for another 10-year term during the Barack Obama administration.However, the PRC became more assertive on the world stage and, among other actions, began using panda diplomacy coercively. In 2010, two US-born panda cubs were returned to China two days after the Chinese government warned President Obama that US-China relations would be damaged if he took a meeting with the Dalai Lama.15 The United States did not receive a set of new giant pandas, despite attracting the highest levels of Chinese investment and increasing people-to-people relations between the two countries. This may have reflected the pivot to Asia and rising tensions in the South and East China Seas during President Obama’s second term.Panda diplomacy continued to suffer during the Donald Trump administration. San Diego’s giant pandas Gao Gao and Bai Yun were returned in 2018 and 2019, respectively, as President Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese imports. At the end of the Trump administration, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo announced that Mei Xiang and Tian Tian would return to China at the end of 2023, seven years earlier than the customary 10-year loan term.16 The fate of cub Xiao Qi Ji is uncertain, and the United States capital may find itself without a giant panda for the first time in over 20 years.South Korea. South Korea’s first giant pandas, Ming Ming and Li Li, arrived in 1994, two years after Beijing and Seoul established formal diplomatic relations. During this period, China and South Korea began rapidly growing their economic relationship.17 Unfortunately, the pandas were returned to8PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGChina four years later during the Asian financial crisis, when South Korea could not afford to maintain their upkeep.18 South Korea did not receive the next group of giant pandas until the Xi era, as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Discussions around the panda lease happened concurrently with discussions on the China–South Korea FTA during Xi’s July 2014 visit with President Park Geun-hye.19 Premier Li Keqiang confirmed the arrival of South Korea’s giant pandas during a November 2015 summit with Park, just months after China and South Korea formally signed the FTA.20 Ai Bao and Le Bao arrived in Seoul the next spring.However, the end of 2016 saw Chinese protests against South Korea and Korean businesses because of the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense antimissile system. Ai Bao’s 2017 birthday celebration in Seoul, although positively portrayed in the Chinese press, was not nearly enough to soften the pressure from boycotts of South Korean brands and stores in the PRC.More recently, during heightened tensions internationally with the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese netizens and environmental organizations criticized the K-pop group Blackpink for cuddling and playing with Fubao, Ai Bao and Le Bao’s cub.21 Chinese state media picked up the story of Blackpink “endangering” a Chinese “national treasure,” and the story was viewed over 750 million times on Sina Weibo, demonstrating the soft-power importance of giant pandas.22 This incident came just two weeks before Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to South Korea to meet with President Moon Jae-in to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, economic relations, and a possible summit with Xi.23 The panda controversy wasanother reminder of Chinese consumers’ importance to South Korean companies as the leaders approached their meetings.ConclusionThe PRC’s use of pandas is often dismissed as a gimmick, but Beijing is deliberate in deploying panda diplomats to its largest trading partners. Giant pandas provide a momentary injection of goodwill as the PRC builds economic relations but are unsurprisingly unable to sustain positive relations between China and the host country.The next areas for research should be to see if panda diplomacy affects relations in areas beyond trade. If so, policymakers need to take panda diplomacy more seriously, particularly since evidence shows China has used panda diplomacy coercively. More research could also be done on why panda loan deals fail. China promised Israel pandas in 2014, but they never materialized.24 New Zealand also discussed a panda loan deal with China, which reportedly collapsed in 2016.25 This would help policymakers better understand the Chinese government’s expectations when it loans pandas, and countries can make a more informed decision on whether to accept them.About the AuthorLinda Zhang is a research associate in Asian studies at the American Enterprise Institute. She is originally from Southwest China, the natural habitat of the giant pandas.9PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGAppendixFor regression analysis of the number of gifted or loaned pandas (dependent variable) to 2019 gross domestic product (GDP) in current US million dollars (independent variable), see Table A1.For regression analysis of 2019 trade volume (dependent variable) to 2019 GDP in current US million dollars (independent variable), see Table A2.Table A1. GDP as a Predictor for Giant PandasSource: Author’s research; and World Bank, “GDP (Current US$),” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ NY.GDP.MKTP.CD.Table A2. GDP as a Predictor for Trade VolumeSource: International Monetary Fund, “Exports, FOB to Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.imf.org/regular. aspx?key=61013712; International Monetary Fund, “Imports, CIF from Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://www. imf.org/en/Publications/SPROLLs/world-economic-outlook-databases; and World Bank, “GDP (Current US$),” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD.10PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGFor regression analysis of the number of gifted or loaned pandas (dependent variable) to 2019 trade volume in current US million dollars (independent variable), see Table A3.For regression analysis of the number of gifted or loaned pandas (dependent variable) to 2019 trade volume in current US million dollars (independent variable), controlling for economy size, see Table A4.Table A3. Trade Volume as a Predictor for Giant PandasSource: Author’s research; International Monetary Fund, “Exports, FOB to Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data. imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61013712; and International Monetary Fund, “Imports, CIF from Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61013712.Table A4. Trade Volume as a Predictor for Giant Pandas, Controlling for Economy SizeSource: Author’s research; International Monetary Fund, “Exports, FOB to Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data. imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61013712; International Monetary Fund, “Imports, CIF from Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61013712; and World Bank, “GDP (Current US$),” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data. worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD.11PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGFor regression analysis of the number of gifted or loaned pandas (dependent variable) to China’s exports in 2019 in current US million dollars (independent variable), controlling for economy size, see Table A5.For regression analysis of the number of gifted or loaned pandas (dependent variable) to China’s imports in 2019 in current US million dollars (independent variable), controlling for economy size, see Table A6.Table A5. Exports as a Predictor for Giant Pandas, Controlling for Economy SizeSource: Author’s research; International Monetary Fund, “Exports, FOB to Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data. imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61013712; and World Bank, “GDP (Current US$),” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.worldbank.org/ indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD.Table A6. Imports as a Predictor for Giant Pandas, Controlling for Economy SizeSource: Author’s research; International Monetary Fund, “Imports, CIF from Partner Countries,” accessed August 15, 2020, https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=61013712; and World Bank, “GDP (Current US$),” accessed August 15, 2020, https:// data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD.12PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGNotes1. Jessica Contrera, “How National Zoo Keepers Orchestrated an ‘Unthinkable’ Panda Pregnancy amid a Pandemic,” Washington Post, August 22, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/how-national-zoo-keepers-orchestrated-an-unthinkable-pandapregnancy-amid-a-pandemic/2020/08/22/3977d86a-e481-11ea-8dd2-d07812bf00f7_story.html.2. Nancy Cushing and Kevin Markwell, “Platypus Diplomacy: Animal Gifts in International Relations,” Journal of Australian Studies 33, no. 3 (August 2009): 255–71, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14443050903079664?src="/images/load.png" data-original=recsys; and Nikhil Menon, “Jumbo Exports: India’s History of Elephant Diplomacy,” Caravan, 2019, https://www.academia.edu/38513879/Jumbo_Exports_Indias_ History_of_Elephant_Diplomacy.3. Global Times, “Black and White and Bred All Over: Panda Diplomats,” http://www.globaltimes.cn/daily-specials/pandas-goingoverseas-as-friendly-ambassadors.html.4. Xinhua, “Official Book Tells Untold Stories of the Giant Panda,” February 21, 2019, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201902/21/ WS5c6e99fea3106c65c34eaa94.html.5. Global Times, “Pandas Travel to Russia for First Time in 62 Years,” June 6, 2019, http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1153314. shtml.6. Alexander Burns, “When Ling-Ling and Hsing Hsing Arrived in the U.S.,” New York Times, February 4, 2016, https://www.nytimes. com/2016/02/07/nyregion/the-pandas-richard-nixon-obtained-for-the-us.html.7. Paul Haenle and Lucas Tcheyan, “How the World Is Responding to a Changing China,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, June 10, 2020, https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/06/10/how-world-is-responding-to-changing-china-pub-82039.8. Kevin Schoenmakers and Claire Liu, “How Twitter’s ‘State-Affiliated’ Labelling Led to a Drop in the Impact of China’s State Media,” Hong Kong Free Press, January 21, 2021, https://hongkongfp.com/2021/01/21/how-twitters-state-affiliated-labelling-led-to-adrop-in-the-impact-of-chinas-state-media/.9. China did not export pandas in 2020, presumably because of COVID-19. 10. Derek Scissors, “China Global Investment Tracker,” American Enterprise Institute and Heritage Foundation, January 2021, https://www.aei.org/china-global-investment-tracker/. 11. Kathleen Carmel Buckingham et al., “Diplomats and Refugees: Panda Diplomacy, Soft ‘Cuddly’ Power, and the New Trajectory in Panda Conservation,” Environmental Reviews and Case Studies 15, no. 3 (September 2013): 262–70. 12. Global Times, “Black and White and Bred All Over.” 13. Lisa Abend, “‘Panda Diplomacy’: A $24 Million Zoo Enclosure Angers Some,” New York Times, April 12, 2019, https://www. nytimes.com/2019/04/12/arts/design/copenhagen-zoo-pandas-china.html. 14. Dave Burgess, “Giant Pandas for New Zealand,” Stuff, December 1, 2010, http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/cutestuff/4408758/ Giant-pandas-for-New-Zealand; and Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, “Giant Panda FAQs,” accessed April 20, 2021, https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/giant-panda-faqs. 15. Buckingham et al., “Diplomats and Refugees,” 266. 16. Mikaela Lefrak, “Giant Pandas at the National Zoo Will Move Back to China in 2023,” WAMU 88.5 American University Radio, December 7, 2020, https://wamu.org/story/20/12/07/smithsonian-national-zoo-pandas-will-move-to-china-2023/. 17. Zhao Lin, “Strategic Cooperation Between China and South Korea and Strategic Structure of Northeast Asia,” East-West Center, 2006, https://www.eastwestcenter.org/system/tdf/private/IGSCwp031.pdf?file=1&type=node&id=32192. 18. Xinhua, “China’s Panda Pair Arrive in S.Korea for 1st Time in 22 Years,” March 3, 2016, https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/ 2016-03/03/content_23724796.htm. 19. Xinhua, “China’s Panda Pair Arrive in S.Korea for 1st Time in 22 Years”; and Hyunjoo Ok, “S. Korea, China Make Headway in Latest Round of FTA Negotiations,” Korea Herald, July 18, 2014, http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140718000558. 20. Seung-yoon Lee, “Panda Couple Comes to Korea Early 2016,” Pulse, November 2, 2015, https://pulsenews.co.kr/view.13PANDAS: CHINA’S MOST POPULAR DIPLOMATSLINDA ZHANGphp?year=2015&no=1044063; and Shannon Tiezzi, “It’s Official: China, South Korea Sign Free Trade Agreement,” Diplomat, June 2, 2015, https://thediplomat.com/2015/06/its-official-china-south-korea-sign-free-trade-agreement/.21. Yan Zhuang, “Blackpink Cuddled a Baby Panda. Not Cute, the Chinese Internet Said.,” New York Times, November 12, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/12/world/asia/blackpink-panda-controversy.html.22. Lim Ruey Yan, “Blackpink Criticised by Chinese Netizens for Their Interactions with Baby Panda,” Straits Times, November 6, 2020, https://www.straitstimes.com/life/entertainment/blackpink-criticised-by-chinese-netizens-for-their-interactions-with-babypanda.23. Tong-Hyung Kim, “China’s Top Diplomat Stresses S. Korea Ties amid Row with US,” Associated Press, November 26, 2020, https://apnews.com/article/beijing-seoul-wang-yi-south-korea-coronavirus-pandemic-b2a2b26d060a9a4552e4e61631721fe5.24. Adam Taylor, “Israel Is the Latest Target for China’s ‘Panda Diplomacy,’” Washington Post, December 4, 2014, https://www. washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/12/04/israel-is-the-latest-target-for-chinas-panda-diplomacy/.25. Dave Burgess, “Giant Pandas for New Zealand”; and Ryan Boswell, “No Giant Pandas for Wellington Zoo,” 1 News, June 23, 2016, https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/no-giant-pandas-wellington-zoo.© 2021 by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. All rights reserved. The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) educational organization and does not take institutional positions on any issues. The views expressed here are those of the author(s).14