A 16-Hour Flight Watched by the World… The Special Mission of Two Pandas?

[Anchor]

Following Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the United States last month, a pair of giant pandas has arrived in Atlanta, signaling the resumption of China's "panda diplomacy."

Videomug reporter So Hwan-uk looks into what this means.

[Reporter]

On the morning of Sunday, September 27, local time, a Boeing 777 cargo plane touched down at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, U.S.

The stars of the cargo hold were Pingping and Fushuang, two giant pandas that flew for about 16 hours after departing from Chengdu, China.

As they passed near Alaska during the flight, they drew massive attention, ranking as the most-tracked aircraft in the world on a flight tracking website.

Both the male, Pingping, and the female, Fushuang, were born in 2020.

Pingping means peace, and Fushuang signifies double celebration.

Both pandas were born and raised at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

To ensure a safe journey for the pandas, the cabin was loaded with plenty of steamed corn bread, bamboo shoots, and carrots, and experienced American zookeepers accompanied them.

China also dispatched two teams of veterinarians and zookeepers to Atlanta in advance to complete thorough preparations.

Zoo Atlanta, which welcomed the pandas, remodeled its facilities and arranged for a long-term supply of bamboo locally grown in Atlanta, which has a climate similar to Chengdu.

The rental period for these pandas is 10 years.

However, it is difficult to view this merely as a simple animal exchange.

At the recent U.S.-China summit, while major breakthroughs were not found on sensitive issues such as artificial intelligence, trade, and the Taiwan issue, the two countries managed to derive an eight-point agreement.

One of them is "panda diplomacy."

China's panda diplomacy boasts a long history.

Following gifts to the U.S. in 1941 and the Soviet Union in 1957, a pair of pandas was sent to the National Zoo in Washington following President Richard Nixon's visit to China in 1972.

Since the 1980s, the practice shifted from outright gifts to long-term leases, under which cubs born overseas are returned, and pandas can even be recalled without contract extensions if bilateral relations deteriorate.

In fact, as U.S.-China tensions escalated in 2023, the panda family at the Smithsonian's National Zoo returned to China, and four pandas living at Zoo Atlanta also left the U.S. in 2024 as their 25-year lease agreement came to an end.

Japan also saw its last remaining two pandas returned this January as China-Japan relations chilled following remarks by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi regarding the possibility of military intervention in a Taiwan contingency.

The return of the pandas to Atlanta this time comes just two years after their departure, marking a new 10-year contract.

The return of pandas to the place where they had vanished is being read as a symbol showing a shifting atmosphere in U.S.-China relations.

Of course, views on panda diplomacy are not entirely warm.

U.S. media outlets have cast a skeptical eye, calling the U.S.-China summit all flash and no substance.

Cynical views even suggest that the only clear winner of the summit is Zoo Atlanta, which secured the two pandas.

The implication is that the pandas have merely filled the void left by the summit.

The United States and China still show unbridgeable differences over the future of the global order, including tariffs, technology, and the Taiwan issue.

Over the next 10 years while the two pandas stay in Atlanta, bilateral relations will likely fluctuate countless times.

Amid complex geopolitical circumstances, can Pingping and Fushuang—who arrived based on the shared consensus that "everyone loves pandas"—add warmth to the relations between the two countries?
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.