{"id":94766,"date":"2026-09-28T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T06:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/?p=94766"},"modified":"2026-09-27T15:23:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T21:23:26","slug":"giant-pandas-icons-of-chinas-soft-diplomacy-arrive-in-atlanta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opinionpublica.tv\/portada\/giant-pandas-icons-of-chinas-soft-diplomacy-arrive-in-atlanta\/","title":{"rendered":"Giant pandas, icons of China\u2019s soft diplomacy, arrive in Atlanta"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Giant<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A special delivery landed in Atlanta on Sunday, three days after Xi Jinping, China\u2019s leader, said his country would soon dispatch \u201cenvoys of friendship\u201d to the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two giant pandas, a male named Ping Ping and a female named Fu Shuang, touched down at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday morning, according to Zoo Atlanta. The bears traveled overnight on a FedEx cargo plane emblazoned with a giant panda snacking on bamboo after leaving a breeding center in Chengdu, in southwestern China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The duo traveled in custom-built crates under the supervision of Zoo Atlanta animal specialists. \u201cThe pandas were the sole cargo aboard the aircraft, accompanied only by fresh bamboo, water, and an assortment of their favorite treats,\u201d according to FedEx.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The delivery of the animals was a gesture of good will from Beijing and came on the heels of Mr. Xi\u2019s visit to the White House last week, the first in over a decade. The Chinese leader met with President Trump and announced that China would send the bears to Zoo Atlanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The zoo said last month that it had reached a research agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, one of two groups in the country that research pandas and lend them overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Chinese state media, the pandas will be on loan for 10 years. Both were born in China in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are now in quarantine at Zoo Atlanta, where they\u2019ll remain under close observation for about a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the zoo was still abuzz Sunday afternoon about the giant pandas \u2014 a species the Grant Park attraction hasn\u2019t seen since Ya Lun and Xi Lun left town for the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven though we can\u2019t see them today, we know they\u2019re here somewhere,\u201d said Kaori Graybeal, a neuroscientist in Atlanta who came to the zoo with her infant daughter. \u201cThe pandas are around!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Graybeal had a chance to see the pandas two years ago, just before the big balls of fluff headed back to China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were so cute,\u201d she said, even though \u201cthey were just kind of sitting there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the three-day visit to Washington last week, Mr. Xi described the bears as a symbol of friendship between the United States and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lavish ceremonies masked the heightened tensions between the two countries, including over trade practices and Chinese military activity around Taiwan and in the Pacific region. Beyond Mr. Xi\u2019s promise of pandas, the summit ended with few tangible diplomatic outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Repnikova, a Georgia State University professor with expertise in Chinese political communication, said the panda loan was part of China\u2019s effort to soften its image in the public eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChina\u2019s overarching kind of soft power diplomacy is often very rigid,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPanda diplomacy is one area where China has been quite successful,\u201d Professor Repnikova added. \u201cIt attracts a lot of the American public or young people. It really appeals. It kind of purifies and softens China\u2019s image.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zoo Atlanta is one of a handful of institutions in the United States that have hosted pandas over the past half-century, continuing a Chinese tradition of panda diplomacy that stretches back to President Richard M. Nixon\u2019s visit to Beijing in 1972.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the first lady, Pat Nixon, told China\u2019s premier, Zhou Enlai, that she loved the animals, Chinese officials sent a male-female pair to the National Zoo in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the next 20 years, the two produced five cubs (none of which survived) and drew crowds of millions, according to the zoo. The program\u2019s success also inspired Chinese officials to send more pandas \u2014 the ultimate symbols of soft diplomacy \u2014 to zoos in San Diego and Memphis, as well as to ones in other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to being one of Zoo Atlanta\u2019s most adorable draws, the previous giant pandas were the subjects of maternal behavioral research \u2014 or mother-cub dynamics \u2014 which Ms. Graybeal\u2019s husband, Alan Emanuel, also a neuroscientist, found especially intriguing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith their bumbling nature, it\u2019s really interesting how they\u2019re finding the right pieces of food and able to identify exactly what they need to survive,\u201d he said. \u201cBut this bonding with the parents and children could be really interesting to compare to how we do that ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ping Ping and Fu Shuang\u2019s arrival on Sunday increased the total number of giant pandas in the United States to six.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, the Chinese authorities sent a pair to the San Diego Zoo and another to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., ending a monthslong spell during which there were no pandas in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n