A small sign of warming in the difficult relations between Beijing and Taipei was made possible thanks to Tuan Tuan. This giant panda was offered by China to Taiwan in 2008, at a time when relations between the two sides of the Strait had improved.
Tuan Tuan is now very ill, almost at the end of his life. Taiwan has therefore invited two Chinese veterinarians from the panda research and protection center, based in Sichuan province, to come to the bedside of the giant panda.
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They are “only” veterinarians, but it is still an official visit of a Chinese delegation to Taiwan, which never happens, especially at this time, in a context of extreme tension, some weeks after Beijing’s large-scale military maneuvers near Taiwan.
The Taiwanese authorities also wanted to make this official visit visible : a press conference was organized to show that the two sides of the strait were working hand in hand on the case of Tuan Tuan. “At the moment we have no way of determining the cause of his illness”explains Chen Yuyan, director of the panda sector at the Taiwan zoo.
“We are still in close contact with our Chinese colleagues, we have discussed the treatment plan with them. We agree together.”
Chen Yuyan, director of the Taiwan Zoo’s panda sectorat franceinfo
“The panda was injected with soothing drugs like steroids, she details. For food, we increased the protein content with nutritional supplements.”
On social networks, many Chinese welcome this trip, wishing their best wishes for recovery to Tuan Tuan. Some nevertheless note the limits of panda diplomacy, which in the past has allowed China to calm its relations with a certain number of countries. In the case of Taiwan, this will obviously not be the case, the effect of the diplomacy of the panda promises to be only ephemeral, the time of this short visit. Chinese Internet users are even pessimistic, believing that the death of Tuan Tuan would be another bad sign in the complicated relations between China and Taiwan.