Pandas have stood for friendship between China and Japan since 1972. But the last two are about to go, and a dispute over Taiwan could get in the way of sending more.
When Ueno Zoo in Tokyo announced this week that its most famous residents, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei — twin 4-year-old giant pandas on loan from China — would go home in late January, a frenzy broke out in Japan.
Thousands of people descended on the zoo after seeing news alerts warning that Japan would soon be panda-less for the first time in more than half a century. Fears spread that the pandas would not be replaced as China punishes Japan over its of recent expression of support for Taiwan.
Mitsuko Usui, 65, visited the zoo on Tuesday with her family, lining up at 9 a.m. for a glimpse of Lei Lei. When her son was young, she brought him to see Chinese pandas here, and she wanted to repeat the tradition with her granddaughters.
“It’s so hard to imagine Japan without pandas,” Ms. Usui said.
China and Japan made plans months ago for Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, who were born at Ueno Zoo in 2021, to return home early next year. But Japanese officials say there has been no progress in talks with the Chinese authorities about sending replacements.
Now the political climate has turned dire, as China fumes about comments by Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi. She said last month that Japan could intervene militarily if China were to attack Taiwan, a self-governed democracy that Beijing claims is part of its territory. Beijing has urged millions of tourists to avoid Japan, restricted Japanese seafood imports and increased military patrols.
The Chinese foreign ministry declined to comment on whether it would keep sending pandas to Japan, referring questions to the “relevant Chinese authorities.”
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