Panda-monium: China’s National Animal as a Bellwether for International Relations

How so-called "panda diplomacy" has furthered China’s pursuit of soft power over its international allies and competitors.

Giant pandas Mei Xiang (left) and her 3-year-old cub Xiao Qi Ji (right) at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.[1]

Certain standards of international diplomacy have been relevant for many years; some are more obscure, or fuzzier, than others. China has been using what has been coined “panda diplomacy” as a bid for “soft power” since the Tang Dynasty of the 7th century B.C.[2] Soft power is a country’s ability to influence other nations without resorting to coercive pressure.[3] Coercive pressure can take on more direct forms—it is usually demonstrated with actions such as sanctions, various kinds of economic pressure, official negative diplomatic exchanges, or various other forms of expressive, outward hostility.[4]

Having employed panda diplomacy as an official policy since 1949, China has loaned giant pandas as a gesture of goodwill towards both international allies and competitors.[5] In recent years, China has increased its panda loaning to other countries.

One may ask, instead of agreeing to a loan system for these animals, why do countries not breed the pandas themselves? The answer to this question turns not on the animals but rather what they represent to the countries receiving them. Pandas by themselves, while cute and cuddly, are not coveted; it is the relationship with China, which arises out of the agreements through which China lends its national animal to foreign countries, that is so prized by receiving nations.[6] The renewed flurry of panda diplomacy is certainly part of China’s pursuit of soft power, with the lending serving as a “seal” or gesture of good will towards countries that China has good relations with.[7] By contrast, the sudden withdrawal of pandas from a country can exhibit soured relations with China. Improvement of such relations can then be shown by a return of giant pandas to said country.

In the past year, when China and the United States were navigating some decidedly tense security, humanitarian, and economic challenges, China recalled giant pandas that had been living at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. and the Memphis Zoo in Memphis, Tennessee.[8]  Experts in international relations and Chinese politics warned that this recall of the giant pandas from the United States signaled a substantive change in China’s attitude towards the U.S. and the West at large.[9] Not only have pandas been withdrawn from the U.S., but in 2023, China also recalled giant pandas in a similar fashion from the Edinburgh Zoo, in Edinburgh, Scotland.[10]

Through panda diplomacy, China is now able to achieve its global political objectives at the citizen level, by impacting visits at the local zoo. When children ask their parents why they can no longer see their favorite animal, there may just be geo-political tensions to blame. As China continues to grow in its international and economic prowess, it is more likely to show its displeasure with the West by means of its cultural exports.

The return of two giant pandas to the United States in June of 2024 indicated relations between the countries are improving.[11] Neil Thomas, a fellow on Chinese Politics at Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis discussed China‘s panda-loaning diplomacy.[12]  He told CNBC, “Beijing wants to improve American perceptions of China and is leaning into cultural diplomacy because it does not want to compromise on political issues such as human rights, industrial policy, and territorial disputes.”[13] Thomas warned that even though the collaborative relationship between China and the U.S. has returned to a more normal state, this exchange will have “little impact” on relations overall, because there are more concrete issues of strategic competition that have evolved—namely economic and militaristic development.[14]

The ability to conduct diplomacy through the animus surrounding animals is a fascinating and often overlooked tool of many world governments. Diplomacy, ultimately, “is about people and relationship-building.”[15] People are saddened when these animals leave due to souring international relations, but that is exactly what makes soft power so effective. Using pandas to keep China and its global concerns in the minds of Americans is just one way panda diplomacy is and will continue to be an effective tool and international diplomacy bellwether.[16]

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[1] Jose Luis Magana, Photograph of giant pandas in the National Zoo, in Larissa Gao & Megan Lebowitz, With Return of Three Pandas to China, U.S. Could Soon Have None, NBC News (Nov. 5, 2023, 8:00 AM), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pandas-national-zoo-china-rcna123456.

[2] Mia Taylor, A Brief History of ‘Panda Diplomacy’ - With New Additions to Global Zoos, BBC (Aug. 8, 2024), https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240226-a-brief-history-of-panda-diplomacy---with-new-additions-to-global-zoos.

[3] What Is Soft Power?, Council on Foreign Rels. (May 16, 2023), https://education.cfr.org/learn/reading/what-soft-power.

[4] Polad Muradli, What is Coercive Diplomacy?, Politicon (Oct. 10, 2015), https://politicon.co/en/essays/41/what-is-coercive-diplomacy.

[5] Charmaine Jacob, In a New Round of ‘Panda Diplomacy,’ China Sends Giant Bears to the U.S. After Two Decades, CNBC (June 27, 2024, 2:12 AM), https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/27/panda-diplomacy-china-sends-giant-pandas-to-us-for-1st-time-in-20-years.html.

[6] Barbara Bodine, The Giant Pandas Have Left the National Zoo. What’s Next for U.S.-China Relations?, Georgetown Univ. (May 30, 2024), https://www.georgetown.edu/news/the-giant-pandas-have-left-the-national-zoo-whats-next-for-u-s-china-relations/.

[7] Taylor, supra note 2.

[8] Id.

[9] Charmaine, supra note 5.

[10] Taylor, supra note 2.

[11] Id.

[12] Charmaine, supra note 5.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Bodine, supra note 6.

[16] Id.