(San Francisco) A White House spokesperson said Thursday that if China decided to send pandas back to an American zoo, “we would obviously welcome them,” after Beijing recently repatriated three of the animals .
“If China decided to re-establish the presence of certain pandas in the United States, we would obviously welcome them,” said John Kirby, spokesperson for the US National Security Council.
On November 8, the three giant pandas from the Washington Zoo, public favorites, left for China, marking the end of a practice of animal diplomacy begun in 1972.
Their departure was due to the long-expected expiration of a contract with China, against a backdrop of tumultuous relations between the two superpowers.
But on Wednesday evening, after a summit in California with American President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping hinted at a return to American soil of black and white ursids.
“I was told that many Americans, especially children, did not want to see the pandas go and went to the (Washington) zoo to say goodbye to them,” he said during the a meeting with big American bosses.
Noting that the San Diego Zoo was ready to receive them, Xi Jinping added: “Giant pandas are ambassadors of the friendship between the people of China and the United States. We stand ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on the protection of pandas, and do our best to accommodate the wishes of Californians. »
A resumption of “panda diplomacy” would be another indicator of the relative détente between the two superpowers, manifested by the resumption of direct dialogue between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping.
The first two pandas were offered by Beijing to the United States in 1972, following a historic visit by President Richard Nixon to Mao Tse-Tung’s communist China.