Lending pandas to foreign zoos is a useful soft power tool for Beijing, but tense international relations are clouding the practice.
Mei Xiang at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, Washington, D.C., April 19, 2025. Credit: Smithsonian's National Zoo via Flickr
China’s cutest cultural ambassadors are heading back. Three pandas — Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Xiao Qi Ji — left for China on November 8, saying goodbye to their former home at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington DC. Their departure, along with those at other American zoos, looks set to leave the U.S. panda-free for the first time since rapprochement with China began in 1972, unless warming ties between the two countries continue.
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In a special bonus episode recorded live at the Asia Society, host Jane Perlez speaks with journalist and scholar Orville Schell about his 50 years covering Chinese leaders and their American counterparts. They attempt to answer the question: how did we get here?
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