Bamboo-zled: Panda Politics Illustrate the Tensions in China-United States Relations

Two baby panda bears playing with each other. Photo by Pascal Müller.

China has employed “panda diplomacy”—the phenomenon of sending panda bears as gifts to ally countries—since the Tang Dynasty in 685 CE when Emperor Wu gifted Japan a pair of panda bears. China owns every panda bear in the world, including ones born in other countries, and they have become an international symbol for China. After World War II, China sent the U.S. its first panda bears to the Bronx Zoo as an appreciation gift for their support during the war, but, unfortunately, the two bears did not live for long. It was not until 1972 that then-Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai sent another set of panda bears after First Lady Pat Nixon made a comment about how cute panda bears were at a state dinner in Beijing. Since panda bears were not tied to the iconography of the former imperial government, they were a perfect symbol, harmless and adorable, for the newly-formed communist government to utilize. Just a few weeks later, two giant pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, arrived at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, D.C. In the first day alone, more than 20,000 people traveled to see the physical manifestations of Chinese-American foreign relations. 

However, in 1984, China amended the panda diplomacy policy, transitioning from gifting the pandas, to only loaning them out on ten-year contracts at a standard fee. Under the revised policy, the U.S. paid $1 million a year per panda to China under the condition that more than half of the money would go towards conservation efforts. Today, visitors have traveled from all over the world to see the panda bears at Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Memphis, and San Diego zoos. In 2015, First Lady Michelle Obama and Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan showed their continued commitment to Chinese-American relations by naming a baby panda together during a joint visit to the National Zoo. However, the days of such relations are coming to an end: China has not agreed to extend their loans at the next renewal with any U.S. zoo, demonstrating how disagreements between the two nations have begun a trend of a decoupling. 

After more than 50 years, the People’s Republic of China’s cutest ambassadors to the United States are going back home. By the end of 2024, all panda bears in the U.S. will be returning to China. Memphis, Washington D.C., and San Diego have already sent their bears back, and Atlanta will return their bears by the end of 2024. This revelation comes against a backdrop of worsening China-U.S. relations as China accuses the U.S. of spearheading a Western agenda to curb Chinese economic and military growth. Panda diplomacy is one of China’s more effective tools of soft power, and the lack of panda loan extensions between China and the United States are a manifestation of increasing tensions between the two countries. 

China uses “panda diplomacy” as a soft power tool to enhance their image abroad, and in the United States, the bears have usually been delivered after a milestone in China-U.S. relations. For instance, the first pandas arrived in Washington, D.C. in 1972—on the coattails of a successful state dinner between President Nixon and Mao Zedong. This was also the first time an American president had visited the People’s Republic of China. During President Nixon’s week-long visit to China, the U.S. and China signed the Shanghai Communiqué, which essentially stated that the two countries would no longer consider each other enemies, ending a 25-year long absence of diplomatic relations. 

In the 1990s, the U.S. annually granted Most Favored Nation (MFN) status to China, which opened the doors for trade agreements between the two countries. Despite President Clinton voicing his concerns over China’s human rights abuses and the large trade deficit from China blocking importation of American goods, he continued to grant his yearly approval of Most Favored Nation (MFN) status. Thus, in 1996, San Diego became the second American zoo to receive its panda bears. China’s MFN status was critical for its significant economic goal at that period, entering the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 1999, China and the U.S. finalized the terms for China’s entry into the WTO, and it is no coincidence that Atlanta received a set of pandas that same year. In 2001, the U.S. granted China permanent MFN status, effectively ending its annual debate on circumstances of trade between the two countries, and about a year and a half later, two panda bears, the four and final pair, arrived in Memphis, TN.

Just as the pandas have come to mark successful China-U.S. agreements, their departures are in line with worsening tensions between the two countries. The Trump administration’s trade war with China led to an $80 billion tax increase on $380 billion worth of Chinese products per year. China responded with its own $50 billion worth of tariffs and invalidated any previous trade agreements made with the Trump administration. Under the Biden administration, the tariffs have stuck around. Additionally, President Biden, concerned with national security measures, signed an executive order making it more difficult for U.S. firms to invest in certain Chinese companies that deal with artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and microchip manufacturing. While China called the policy “technological bullying,” they have yet to retaliate. 

These matters are all in addition to ever-looming issues such as human rights abuses, the legitimacy of Taiwan, and climate change. Furthermore, while the U.S. has given more than $75 billion worth of aid to Ukraine and imposed various sanctions on Russia since the start of the Ukraine-Russia war, China accounts for 45% to 50% of Russia’s imports, a 25% increase from before the start of the war. In response to the unrelenting trade policies made under the Trump administration that President Biden has doubled down on, China is recalling the panda bears just as easily as they were gifted during favorable trade agreements in the past. On the other hand, as a commitment to strengthening relations, President Xi of China loaned Putin a set of panda bears for the Moscow Zoo, a striking contrast against its hostility towards the United States and a clear redirection of China’s diplomatic priorities. 

In addition to panda bears, China uses Confucius Institutes and Chinese culture as a way to boost favorable opinion overseas, but they have all been met with scrutiny and criticism. Through hundreds of Confucius Institutes—public education programs sponsored by the Chinese government to promote Chinese language and culture around the globe—China showcases its culture by teaching Mandarin, holding film screenings, and giving lessons in cooking and calligraphy. They have not been received well, particularly in the West, because they are affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education and have been shut down due to fears of propaganda and lack of cost transparency with host universities. In the U.S. alone, the number of Confucius Institutes has declined from approximately 100 to less than five since 2019. 

Chinese media has also been poorly received in the United States which only adds to tensions between the two countries. In March 2023, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified in front of Congress that Tiktok’s Chinese parent company, Bytedance, was not reporting U.S. users’ data back to the Chinese government. To fight against the allegations of Chinese surveillance, Tiktok launched Project Texas, a $15 billion campaign to restructure the corporation to make American users feel safer. Regardless, lawmakers feel dubious about Project Texas, and there is bipartisan support to ban the app unless its Chinese owners sell their stakes in the company. 

Despite the negative backlash to other soft power tactics, such as sending foreign aid to African countries and the aforementioned Confucius Institutes, the panda bears have only been met with adoration. The panda bears at the Smithsonian National Zoo have been a fixture for so long that they have become celebrities and an adored symbol of the nation’s capital itself. At one point, D.C.’s Metrorail printed panda bears onto its Metro cards, and Starbucks donated blueberry muffins to the zoo due to Hsing-Hsing’s preference for the treat. Starting in the 1960s, China, along with zoos around the world, launched international breeding campaigns, sending panda bears from around the world to different zoos in hopes they will copulate and produce newborns to save their dwindling population. Their efforts were so effective that in 2021, China declared that panda bears were no longer considered an endangered species, a powerful milestone for their national image. 

After just celebrating the 50th anniversary of its panda program last year, the National Zoo’s Giant Panda Cam just went offline in November of 2023 after an emotional goodbye to their panda bears. China reclaiming their pandas is a direct statement to the United States that they no longer deserve these panda privileges, and efforts to negotiate contract extensions will pale in comparison to the effort necessary for further diplomatic agreements. President Biden and President Xi are set to meet next week in San Francisco for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, and while the agenda will surely include future trade negotiations, the Ukraine-Russia war, and Taiwan, it may also just include pandas. 

Kristy Wang is a Staff Writer for the Columbia Political Review and a senior in Columbia College studying political science and biology. Panda bears are her favorite animal. Kristy can be reached at kw2933@columbia.edu.