How did pandas end up in this diplomatic tradition, also known as panda diplomacy?

Pandas are perhaps one of the most adorable animals native in China. However, these animals are more than just China’s unofficial symbol. In fact, pandas were used for diplomatic purposes since the 1950s.

Origins

This tradition began as far as the 7th century during the Tang Dynasty. According to history, Empress Wu Zeitan shipped bears, which were said to be a pair of pandas, to Japan. However, there was no specific reason indicated why pandas were sent to Japan.

After hundreds of years, the panda-giving tradition was revived at the start of World War II when Beijing (China) reportedly sent two pandas to the Bronx Zoo. The said move was said to be the former’s way of saying thanks to the latter. In the 1950s, Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-Tung sent pandas as “gifts” to its allies, including the Soviet Union and North Korea.

In 1972, two months after former US President Nixon’s visit to China, the latter presented two adorable pair of 18-month old pandas named Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing. In exchange, the US gave a pair of musk oxen to China in return. That visit ended more than two decades of tension between the US and China.

Upon news of China’s panda-giving to the US government, several American zoos, including the Bronx and San Diego Zoos, have petitioned to the White House in becoming the pandas’ permanent home. In the end, the National Zoological Park in Washington DC won the bid.

Inspired with the US-China exchange during the 1970s, former British Prime Minister Edward Heath also expressed intention to experience the “panda diplomacy” when he visited China. As a result, Chia-Chia and Ching-Ching were presented as diplomatic gifts and made London Zoo their new home.