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CHINA SENDS GIFT OF PANDAS TO
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan are two giant
pandas. On December 23, the two pan-
das were flown from an airport in China
to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. The pan-
das were sent as a gift from the Chinese
government to the people of Taiwan.
Giant pandas are an endangered spe-
cies. They live in a few mountainous ar-
eas of China. Experts estimate that about
2,500 currently live in the wild. Around
240 live in captivity. One of the moun-
tain areas in which many giant pandas
live was badly affected by the earthquake
that struck Sichuan province, in western
China, seven months ago.
In a 24-year period between 1958 and
1982, China gave 23 pandas to nine dif-
ferent countries. The pandas were sent as
a gesture of goodwill from the Chinese
government. Sending pandas as gifts to
other countries soon became nicknamed
“panda diplomacy”. Diplomacy is a word
January 1, 2009
American English edition
Issue Number 83
FREE
COVER
STORY
Newspaper contents
Army takes control of Guinea
North American snow storms
Colony Collapse Disorder
Israel and Hamas
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan after arriving in Taiwan
Earthrise anniversary
TAIWAN Magma chamber accidentally
discovered
that describes negotiations and relation- Gas exporters meet
ships among different countries. “Person of the Year”
Perhaps the most famous example of Winter festivals
panda diplomacy was when President
Draw for “the big one”
Richard Nixon of the U.S. visited China
Big wheel breaks down
in 1972. At the time the two countries
were enemies and rarely communicated. European Union Presidency
President Nixon offered to travel to Chi- Bangladesh elections
na to meet with Chairman Mao Zedong, Neanderthal theories
the communist Chinese leader. His offer Peru’s Cloud People
was accepted. As part of the talks, Chair- Blindsighted
man Mao gave two pandas to President
Record-breaking cub scout
Nixon. In return the American president
gave the Chinese leader two musk oxen. Marshall Islands emergency
The two pandas, called Ling Ling and Belgium’s new prime
Hsing Hsing, were kept in a zoo in Wash- minister
ington, D.C., the capital of the U.S.A. Book review
Thousands of people visited the zoo to see Glossary and Sudoku prize
them every year. The two pandas had five competitions
cubs, but none survived. Ling Ling lived
until 1992, and Hsing Hsing until 1999. subscribe at
China’s gift of the two pandas to the U.S. www.newsademic.com
January 1, 2009 Newsademic.com – American English Cover Story edition
was thought to be a big diplomatic
success. Another two pandas, Chia
Chia and Ching Ching, were given to
the government of Britain in 1974.
China first offered a gift of two
pandas to Taiwan in 2005. The Tai-
wanese president at the time, Chen
Shui-bian, refused the offer.
For 60 years China and Taiwan
have mistrusted one another. Some
people have even predicted that a
war could break out between them.
Today China still has hundreds of
missiles pointed at Taiwan.
The reason for the problems is his-
torical. Between 1945 and 1949 there
was a civil war in China. The Nation-
alists, led by Chiang Kai-shek, fought
the Communists, who were under the
leadership of Mao Zedong. The Na-
tionalists were defeated, and retreated
to the island of Taiwan.
Both the Nationalists and the
Communists claimed to be the of-
ficial government of China. Even
today the official names of China
and Taiwan are very similar. Taiwan
is the Republic of China and China
is the People’s Republic of China.
China has threatened to invade Tai-
wan on a number of occasions. It
insists that the island of Taiwan will
be re-united with China one day.
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Chen Shui-bian was elected pres-
ident of Taiwan in 2000. Mr. Chen
was the leader of the Democratic
Progressive Party (DPP). Many
DPP supporters wanted Taiwan to
become a fully independent country,
which angered China. Mr. Chen was
re-elected in 2004, and refused Chi-
na’s first offer of the two pandas.
In Taiwan’s 2008 election the
Kuomintang (KMT) beat the DPP.
Ma Ying-jeou was elected Taiwan’s
new president. The KMT had gov-
erned Taiwan from 1949 to 2000. It
does not want Taiwan to become a
fully independent country but would
prefer to improve its relationship with
China. Recently, senior officials from
the KMT and China met. They agreed
to open direct air and sea transport
links between the countries for the
first time. President Ma decided to
accept the gift of the two pandas.
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page 2
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan’s
journey was shown on a live Chi-
nese television broadcast. A special
set of stamps was issued to mark
the event.
The truck carrying the pandas to
the airport was guarded by 500 secu-
rity officers. 20 animal experts and
two zookeepers traveled with them.
Before they left, groups of Chinese
schoolchildren danced and waved
goodbye dressed in panda suits. At
the airport there were more dances
and farewell speeches.
After a journey of three hours the
plane carrying the pandas arrived in
Taipei. The keepers took the pandas
away as they have to spend a month
in quarantine. The pandas will even-
tually be kept at the zoo in Taipei
where a special enclosure costing
NT$ 323 million ($9.7 million) has
been built for them.
Not all people living in Taiwan
are happy about the arrival of the
pandas. Some think by accepting
the gift from the Chinese govern-
ment, Taiwan has agreed to become
part of China in the future. Others
have complained about the pandas’
names. When put together, the Chi-
nese words Tuan Tuan and Yuan
Yuan mean “reunion”. ‡
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