Panda Politics

I missed an important point with my "Christmas in Taiwan" post yesterday. December 24, 2008 is in fact a historical day for Taiwan. Two pandas, presented as a gift by China, were flown from Sichuan, China to Taiwan yesterday, and introduced to their new home in Taipei Zoo (which is about 5 minutes by bus from my university).

A lot has been written about the relations and development between mainland China and Taiwan, but really, the panda story says it all.

The giant panda seems to be the most important Chinese export commodity, political tool and leverage. Not bad for a cute, lazy, furry bear which eats bamboo half the day, and sleeps the other half. I believe the only way to obtain a panda is to get it as a gift from the Chinese government, and it seems to signify an ever-lasting friendship and bound.



I guess in the case of Taiwan, a panda gift is like a guarantee that China takes the heating up of the relationship seriously. Or, it could represent that Taiwan has accepted the 'one China' policy. The previous Taiwanese government rejected the pandas, because the gift would be presented as 'domestic transfer of the animals', implying that Taiwan is part of China. The current, more pro-China government, accepted it. But the politics doesn't stop there. The pandas are called Tuan Tuan, and Yuan Yuan. The word 'tuanyuan' means 'unity'. The opposition leaders already called for renaming them, or at least finding nicknames for the poor animals, as the original names "are suggestive of Beijing's efforts to suppress Taiwan's sovereignty."

"Among the names that have received the most support so far are "Chih-ming, Chun-chiao, " "one China, one Taiwan," and "Wang-yao, Wang-shih." which are old-fashioned common Taiwanese names for children born into unfortunate circumstances." (Taiwan News)

Fortunately, it seems that most Taiwanese people don't care about all the political fuss and are just excited that they can go see the bears in about a month, after the quarantine is over. Although it is likely that for the first few months, seeing a panda will mean waiting in a line for two hours, only to catch a short glimpse of them before being pushed away by other eager visitors. There will be a few sad children who won't get to see them: "I'm banning my relatives from going to see the pandas, because one shouldn't use wild animals as presents", said one opposition legislator.

One of my friends commented: Now that the pandas are here, just over the hill from our university, we are safe. Even if China decided to invade Taiwan, they will make sure not to throw bombs anywhere close to the pandas.