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☆ Giant Pandas Are Returning to San Diego, China Announces
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-01 | by ( Alan Rappeport | More About Alan Rappeport | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The United States and China may be at odds these days over Russia’s war in Ukraine, cheap Chinese exports, tensions with Taiwan and matters of human rights. But when it comes to giant pandas, diplomacy is back. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China confirmed this week that two giant pandas — Yun Chuan and Xin Bao — would be sent from the China Conservation and Research Center to the San Diego Zoo. The zoo has a longstanding partnership with China on panda conservation research, and a ministry spokesman said the upcoming exchange would focus on prevention and treatment of major diseases and habitat protection. It is not clear when the new pandas will arrive, but the agreement should allay concerns that the recent tensions between the United States and China would threaten the beloved tradition of panda diplomacy.

Persons: Yun Chuan, Xin Bao —, Lin Jian Organizations: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China Conservation and Research Center, San Diego Zoo Locations: States, China, Ukraine, Taiwan, U.S, United States

☆ Giant pandas coming to San Francisco from China
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Paradise Afshar | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —China will send giant pandas to live at San Francisco’s zoo for the first time, Mayor London Breed has announced. “The memorandum of understanding signed by Mayor Breed and the (China Wildlife Conservation Association) this morning is the first official leased agreement for Giant Pandas to have residency at the San Francisco Zoo,” a media release from the city on Friday reads. “In 1984 and again in 1985, the San Francisco Zoo temporarily hosted Giant Pandas from China as part of a global tour.”In February, it was announced that China would be sending two giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo – marking the first time it has granted new panda loans in the US in two decades, CNN previously reported. The National Zoo was the first US zoo to showcase pandas, and the end of its program had left Zoo Atlanta as the only other US zoo to feature pandas. Fewer than 2,000 giant pandas remain in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which lists the species as vulnerable.

Persons: Mayor London Breed, Mayor Breed, “, ”, Breed, Xi Jinping, Richard Nixon’s Organizations: CNN, Mayor London, Mayor, China Wildlife Conservation Association, Giant Pandas, San Francisco Zoo, Pandas, San Diego Zoo, Smithsonian National Zoo, Zoo, Zoo Atlanta, World Wildlife Fund Locations: China, Francisco’s, “ San Francisco, Washington, Beijing

The views are spectacular in this corner of eastern Nepal, between the world’s highest mountains and the tea estates of India’s Darjeeling district, where rare orchids grow and red pandas play on the lush hillsides. But life can be tough. Wild animals destroyed the corn and potato crops of Pasang Sherpa, a farmer born near Mount Everest. He gave up on those plants a dozen years ago and resorted to raising one that seemed to have little value: argeli, an evergreen, yellow-flowering shrub found wild in the Himalayas. Farmers grew it for fencing or firewood.

Persons: Sherpa Organizations: Pasang Sherpa, Farmers Locations: Nepal, India’s Darjeeling, Pasang, Mount Everest, Asia

☆ An ancient dinner still sits in a Bronze Age village 2,850 years later
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-23 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

First, one of the crew found a marble head of a Roman lady, and two weeks later its bust surfaced nearby, reuniting the pieces. Cambridge Archaeological UnitMust Farm was a thriving Bronze Age stilt village, perched above a river in eastern England, when it burned down 2,850 years ago — just nine months after its inhabitants had built it. The site, acclaimed by experts as “Britain’s Pompeii,” preserved rare information that reveals a new, less hierarchical portrait of Bronze Age society. Malhan/MPIAAstronomers have spied two streams of ancient stars that likely helped build the Milky Way galaxy billions of years ago. They find wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.

Persons: Earl of Exeter, ”, Chris Wakefield, Kermit the, Jim Henson’s, Payne, Shiva, Li Yibo, Ashley Strickland, Katie Hunt Organizations: CNN, Burghley, University of Cambridge, Smithsonian National Museum of, NASA, Force, Xinhua News Agency, Getty, CNN Space, Science Locations: United Kingdom, Peterborough, England, Cambridge, Africa, Ethiopia’s, China, Shaanxi, Iran

☆ There's a point to this terrifying fox costume — it helps save fox kits' lives
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-13 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Read previewA staff member at a wildlife center in Richmond, Virginia, had to put on an unconventional get-up while caring for an orphaned baby fox. On Tuesday morning, the Richmond Wildlife Center posted a Facebook video of a staff member feeding a kit while wearing a furry fox mask. In the video, the kit rests on a fox stuffed toy while the staff member feeds it with a syringe. The wildlife center told the AP that the fox kit will soon be transferred to the Animal Education and Rescue Organization, where it will eventually be released back into the wild. This isn't the first time wildlife staff have had to mimic the appearances of the animals in their charge.

Persons: —, Melissa Stanley, Stanley Organizations: Service, Richmond Wildlife Center, Business, Associated Press, AP, Animal Education, Rescue Organization, Biologists Locations: Richmond , Virginia, Wisconsin, China

☆ South Koreans mourn as country’s first celebrity panda, Fu Bao, heads to China
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Yoonjung Seo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Fu Bao fandomBorn to parents Ai Bao and Le Bao in July 2020 as part of China’s “panda diplomacy” program, Fu Bao is South Korea’s first naturally-bred panda. Some South Koreans said Fu Bao provided them with moments of joy during the pandemic. In one video, Fu Bao clings tightly to Kang’s leg, unwilling to let go, as he spins gently around the room. The other short video shows Fu Bao clinging to Kang’s arm while relaxing on a wooden bench. Once Fu Bao departs for China, there will be four giant pandas left at Everland – Fu Bao’s mother Ai Bao, father Le Bao, and their twin babies Rui Bao and Hui Bao, who were born last July.

Persons: Fu Bao, Fu, Fu Bao’s, Ai Bao, Le Bao, ”, you’re, zookeeper, grandpa, Kang Chul, ” Kang, 판다월드, Everland, Rui Bao, Hui Bao Organizations: CNN, South Korea’s, South, YouTube, China Conservation and Research Center, Samsung, China Wildlife Conservation Association Locations: South, Yongin city, South Korea, China, Everland, Sichuan Province

☆ Two giant pandas are moving to a California zoo in a rare loan from China
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Taylor Romine | Jessie Yeung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —China is sending two giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo – the first time it has granted new panda loans to the United States in two decades. His comments came shortly after the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC sent its three pandas back to China – marking the end of more than 50 years of Chinese pandas being housed at the zoo. The National Zoo was the first US zoo to showcase pandas, and the end of its program had left Zoo Atlanta as the only other US zoo to feature pandas. San Diego Zoo returned its last two pandas to China in 2019, after its loan agreement ended. According to Xinhua, discussions are ongoing for “a new round of cooperation” with the National Zoo and a zoo in Austria.

Persons: Xi Jinping, ” Xi, Xi, Joe Biden Organizations: CNN, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Smithsonian National Zoo, Washington , DC, Zoo, Zoo Atlanta, China Wildlife Conservation Association, Xinhua, Washington, Smithsonian, National Zoo, World Wildlife Fund Locations: China, United States, Washington ,, San, Europe, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Qatar, Xinhua, Austria

☆ The Bucket List Family: How to travel the world with three kids
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Tamara Hardingham-Gill | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“I never had the thought in my brain that ‘I want to travel around the world,’” Gee, from Denver, Colorado, tells CNN Travel. They soon began planning an extended trip to Southeast Asia and decided to launch an Instagram page, The Bucket List Family, to collate their adventures. “The little bit of traveling turned into three years full-time,” adds Gee, who has just released a travel guidebook, The Bucket List Family Travel, in partnership with National Geographic. The family went on to visit dozens of countries across the world, including Germany, Morocco, Japan, Brazil, Guatemala and Dominica. Family favoritesThe family of five have traveled to more than 90 countries.

Persons: Jessica Gee, Walt, ”, Garrett, Dorothy, Manilla, “, ” Gee, Gee, Jessica, Garrett Gee, who’ve, Callihan, Calihan, Geographic Gee, you’re, Gee’s, – that’s, it’s, They’ve, don’t Organizations: CNN, Walt Disney, CNN Travel, National Geographic, Gee, Central, East, Rwanda, Geographic, Disney Locations: Europe, Florida, Denver , Colorado, Vladivostok, Russia, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Singapore , New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Tonga, Germany, Morocco, Japan, Brazil, Guatemala, Dominica, Belize, Central American, Alaska, East African, Rwanda, Hawaii, Africa, Antarctica, China, Borneo

☆ Here's how Singapore Airlines airlifted a giant panda cub and sent it on its journey home to China
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Singapore's first giant panda cub, Le Le, traveled to China on Tuesday. AdvertisementSingapore Airlines was given a monumental task in January: They were put in charge of sending Le Le, a 2.5-year-old giant panda cub, to China. Born in August 2021, Le Le was Singapore's first giant panda cub. Le Le, however, has to be separated from his parents. The giant panda cub was also served a special in-flight meal during his journey — bamboo, bamboo shoots, fruit, pellets, and water.

Persons: Le Le, Le, —, Kai Kai, Jia Jia, Gajandran Sokayan, Riding, Le didn't Organizations: Singapore Airlines, Service, Mandai, Boeing, Cargo, SIA, China Conservation and Research Center Locations: China, Singapore

☆ Close-up Photographer of the Year: Images show the hidden wonders of nature
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-12 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Mesmerizing photos of ants firing acid, a shrimp floating over a rainbow-colored mosaic sea star, and a butterfly peering in at a wedding party are among the winning images of the Close-up Photographer of the Year 2023 competition. The contest, in its fifth year, celebrates micro and macro photography, striving to show the hidden wonders of the natural world, from microscopic fungi to majestic animals. Micro is the term used for taking photos of tiny subjects that require magnification, while macro involves capturing close-up images of larger subjects. The title of young close-up photographer of the year went to 17-year-old Spaniard Carlos Pérez Naval for his image of a Moorish gecko on a wall covered with pyrolusite crystals. While many other photo awards feature close-up categories, they believed there was a need for an entire competition dedicated to macro and micro photography.

Persons: Tracy Calder, ”, Csaba Daróczi, Carlos Pérez, “, –, Calder, Daniel, “ There’s Organizations: CNN Locations: Hungarian, Calamacha, Spain

☆ The brilliantly bizarre world of ‘Candy, Andy and the Bearandas’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-09 | by ( Zoe Whitfield | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —To immerse yourself in the pages of new book “Candy, Andy & The Bearandas” is to delve into a surreal world that riffs on the peculiar while invoking the familiar. Alan Dein/Anderson Entertainment/Courtesy Four Corners Books“It’s very strange, dad never once mentioned ‘Candy’,” Jamie Anderson, the creator’s son, told CNN in an interview. But it was only after he died (in 2012), somebody sent me an eBay listing (of a “Candy” comic) and said, ‘did you know this is one of your dad’s as well?’. “They look like a parody in a way, when you (compare) ‘Candy and Andy’ and ‘Thunderbirds,’ you can scarcely believe they were by the same company.”Some scenes feature the Candy and Andy mannequins with real people. Alan Dein/Anderson Entertainment/Courtesy Four Corners BooksIndeed, the two are worlds apart.

Persons: Candy, Andy, Richard Embray, ”, ” —, Gerry Anderson, Scarlet ”, Candy ”, Scarlet, Alan Dein, Candy ’, ” Jamie Anderson, “, ‘, Doug Luke, Roger Perry, documentarian Alan Dein, ‘ Candy, Andy ’, Gerry Anderson's, Dein, Jamie Anderson, Jamie, Alan, Tracy family’s, Andy ” —, —, Anderson, Jake, Dinos Chapman, Jeff Koons, “ It’s Organizations: CNN, Anderson, eBay, Four, ‘ Thunderbirds, Harrods, Barbican Locations: British, Dein

☆ Asia’s year in review: Who had it good — and who had it bad — in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-22 | by ( Curtis Chin | Jose B. Collazo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

As 2023 comes to a close, we take a look at the year that was in Asia and the Pacific region. But who had it good and who had it bad in 2023? Bad year: China's property marketWith millions of Chinese citizens still waiting for homes they put down payments on — but might never be built — 2023 was a particularly bad year for China's property market. A newly built property is seen from the air in Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province, China, Dec 15, 2023. Chinese families and individuals who once saw homes as more than somewhere to live but also as investments have reason to fear 2023 won't be the last bad year they face.

Persons: Curtis, Chin, Jose B, —, Vikram, Amit Dave, Narendra Modi, Taylor Swift, Kim Ji, Jennie, Kim Jennie, Roseanne Chae, Lisa, Lalisa, King Charles, Rose, Roseanne Park, Jisoo Kim, Jennie Kim, King Charles III, Yoon Suk Yeol, Kim Keon Hee, Victoria Jones, Blackpink, Michelle Yeoh, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, San Francisco —, China Evergrande, Moody's, Asia's Organizations: Asian Development Bank, RiverPeak Group, ISRO —, Indian Space Research, Orbiter, ISRO, Buckingham, Sustainable, COP26, Getty, YG Entertainment, APEC, U.S, International Monetary Fund Locations: U.S, Asia, Turkey, Syria, Maui, Hawaii, Lahaina, Pacific, India, Gujarat Science City, Ahmedabad, Korea, British, LONDON, ENGLAND, Glasgow, London, England, South Korea, Malaysian, New Zealand, Thailand, China, San Francisco, United States, Taiwan, South China, Country, Hangzhou city, Zhejiang province

☆ Britain bids farewell to its only giant pandas after 12 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Zookeepers have spent the last few weeks making sure the two pandas, Yang Guang and Tian Tian, are used to crates in preparation for their long journey, expected at some point in early December. [1/4]Yang Guang, one of the giant pandas at Edinburgh Zoo, eats bamboo stalks in its enclosure, in Edinburgh, Britain, November 29, 2023. REUTERS/Lesley Martin Acquire Licensing Rights"Yang Guang and Tian Tian have had an incredible impact by inspiring millions of people to care about nature," he said in a statement. The return of the Edinburgh bears to China comes as a number of giant pandas have also headed home from the U.S., part of a fading legacy in which giant pandas served as animal ambassadors. That began in 1972, when the government of China presented two giant pandas as gifts to the U.S. after President Richard Nixon's historic Cold War visit to the communist country.

Persons: Zookeepers, Yang Guang, Tian Tian, David Field, Lesley Martin, Richard Nixon's, Washington's, Sarah Young, Jan Harvey Organizations: Edinburgh Zoo, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, China Wildlife Conservation Association, REUTERS, Edinburgh, Thomson Locations: China, Edinburgh, Britain, U.S, Memphis, San Diego

☆ Britain Says Bye-Bye to Its Only Pandas as They’ll Soon Depart for China
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Eduardo Medina | More About Eduardo Medina | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

On Wednesday, crowds gathered to say goodbye and catch one final look at Yang Guang and Tian Tian, who for 12 years have enraptured millions of visitors and residents of Edinburgh. “We’ve flown up for the day; we must be mad,” Lauren Darling, who recently visited the zoo, told The Telegraph. But American zoo officials and scientists said that it came down to biology, or “panda time,” since the three pandas should be going back to China because they are at an advanced age. A similar reason was cited by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. The pandas, the zoo said, arrived in Edinburgh in December 2011 as part of a 10-year arrangement between the organization’s charity and the China Wildlife Conservation Association, which allowed them to keep the pandas an extra two years because of the pandemic.

Persons: Yang Guang, Tian Tian, “ We’ve, ” Lauren Darling, It’s, Rebecca Plant Organizations: Telegraph, National Zoo, Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, China Wildlife Conservation Association Locations: Edinburgh, Britain, Washington, China

☆ Xi Jinping Revives Hopes for Pandas’ Return to the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( James T. Areddy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Xiao Qi Ji, the 3-year-old male giant panda born at the National Zoo in Washington, was flown to China earlier this month along with his parents. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesChinese leader Xi Jinping ’s suggestion that China would send new pandas to the U.S. was a minor gesture in an otherwise bitter rivalry but symbolic of attempts by both governments to find areas to cooperate. It was also a reminder of how pandas have long occupied a special place in U.S.-China diplomacy.

Persons: Xiao Qi Ji, Anna Moneymaker, Xi Jinping Organizations: National Zoo, Getty Images Locations: Washington, China

☆ Xi revealed the extent of China's economic woes by the speed at which he caved to some of Biden's demands
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

China's Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden had their first meeting in a year this week. Xi entered the talks in an unfamiliar position of weakness amid China's economic woes. It was a stark contrast to recent public remarks by the Chinese president, where he sought to blame crises and conflicts across the globe on US meddling. The New York Times noted just how quickly Xi agreed to the demands, with previous US-China deals brokered after days of painstaking diplomatic negotiations. Though Xi is hoping for a short-term decrease in tensions, Chinese economic woes are unlikely to have altered his long-term calculations.

Persons: China's Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, Xi, —, Xi Jinping, Biden, Patricia Kim, Nancy Pelosi's, he'd, Robert Daly, Wilson, Vladimir Putin Organizations: Service, APEC, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, Biden, UAE ., New York Times, Associated Press, Institute, Russian, The New York Times Locations: San Francisco, China, United States, UAE, Taiwan, Beijing, Russia, Ukraine, East, Iran, Gaza, Washington

Later, Beijing loaned the pandas to other U.S. zoos, with proceeds going back to panda conservation programs. The National Zoo’s three giant pandas, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Xiao Qi Ji, eight days ago began their long trip to China. After their departure, only four pandas are left in the United States, in the Atlanta Zoo. Unproven allegations that U.S. zoos mistreated the pandas, known as China’s “national treasure,” flooded China’s social media. The San Diego Zoo returned its pandas in 2019, and the last bear at the Memphis, Tennessee, zoo went home earlier this year.

Persons: Xi Jinping, ” Xi, Xi, Joe Biden, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, Xiao Qi Ji, Biden, Ashraf Khalil Organizations: FRANCISCO, U.S ., National Zoo, Atlanta Zoo, San Diego Zoo, Garden, China Wildlife Conservation Association, Associated Press Locations: China, United States, California, San Diego, U.S, Beijing, Washington, San Francisco, Memphis , Tennessee

☆ Panda Diplomacy Might Not Be Dead Just Yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Edward Wong | More About Edward Wong | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The fur balls might be coming back to Washington and San Diego. Xi Jinping, China’s leader, said in a speech on Wednesday night that his nation’s best diplomats, giant pandas, might soon return to zoos in the United States that have recently sent bears back to their homeland. “We are ready to continue our cooperation with the United States on panda conservation, and do our best to meet the wishes of the Californians so as to deepen the friendly ties between our two peoples,” he told a gathering of mostly business executives at a dinner in San Francisco. Mr. Xi pointed out that the pandas are “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.”Panda-monium gripped the United States last week when the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington sent its two aging adult pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji, or “Little Miracle,” back to China on a 19-hour FedEx flight, the Panda Express.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Mr, Xi, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, Xiao Qi Ji Organizations: FedEx, Panda Express Locations: Washington, San Diego, United States, San Francisco, China

☆ Pandas, Ping-Pong and Profits: Chinese Leader Woos U.S. CEOs
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Ana Swanson | More About Ana Swanson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The streets outside the San Francisco hotel where Chinese leader Xi Jinping addressed a crowd of American business executives Wednesday night were chaotic, echoing with police sirens and the chants of protesters. Mr. Xi spoke of pandas. He spoke of Americans and Chinese working together during World War II to battle the Japanese. “The number one question for us is: are we adversaries, or partners?” Mr. Xi asked. “China is ready to be a partner and friend of the United States.”

Persons: Xi Jinping, Xi —, —, Xi, Mr, ” Organizations: Hyatt Regency Locations: San Francisco, China, United States

The coronavirus pandemic exposed frailties in their supply chains. Chinese President Xi Jinping, too, met with American business leaders — at a $2,000-per-plate dinner Wednesday evening. “The global economy is recovering, but its momentum remains sluggish,” Xi said. “Industrial and supply chains are still under the threat of interruption and protectionism is rising. The new framework has four major pillars: supply chains, climate, anti-corruption and trade.

Persons: Fresh, Joe Biden, “ We've, ” Biden, hasn't, Bill Clinton, Biden, Kamala Harris, Alexei Overchuk —, “ Will, Xi Jinping, —, ”, Xi, ” Xi, Josh Boak, Didi Tang Organizations: FRANCISCO, APEC, Russia's, U.S, Smithsonian National Zoo, Atlanta Zoo, Biden, Pacific, won’t, Associated Press Locations: China, U.S, Bangkok, Ukraine, Israel, Russia, United States, Northern California, Tokyo, Washington, San Francisco

☆ China pandas: Xi Jinping hints he could send new pandas to US as ‘envoys of friendship’
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Yong Xiong | Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Their departure leaves Zoo Atlanta as the only other US zoo to feature pandas from China. “Recently, the three pandas at Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington D.C. have returned to China. The Chinese leader did not offer additional details on where any future Chinese pandas might be sent, but suggested California would be the most likely destination. The San Diego Zoo returned its last two pandas to China in 2019, after the loan agreement concluded. It’s also the Chinese leader’s first trip to the US in more than six years.

Persons: Xi Jinping, ” Xi, “, Xi, Joe Biden, Richard Nixon’s, Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, Xiao Qi Ji –, It’s, Biden Organizations: CNN, San Diego Zoo, Beijing –, Smithsonian National Zoo, Smithsonian National, Zoo, Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Locations: China, United States, San Francisco, Beijing, Europe, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Qatar, Washington ,, Zoo Atlanta, Washington, California, Bali , Indonesia

The San Diego Zoo sent its pandas home in 2019 and the last bear at the Memphis, Tennessee, zoo went home earlier this year. Whatever the reason, San Diego Zoo officials were hopeful. "It is a moment with some heartbreak in it,” National Zoo Director Brandie Smith said at the time. The San Diego Zoo has been panda-less for four years and may need to upgrade or refurbish its facilities. The National Zoo had announced plans to renovate its panda house and outdoor enclosure, but the timing on those plans is unclear.

Persons: —, Xi Jinping, Xi, Mei Xiang, Tian Tian, Xiao Qi Ji —, ”, Daniel Ashe, ” Dennis Wilder, ” Wilder, Wilder, Gavin Newsom's, Xi’s, Paul A, Baribault, Ling, Hsing, Brandie Smith, Le Le, Didi Tang, Amy Taxin Organizations: WASHINGTON, San Diego Zoo, National Zoo, Atlanta Zoo, Veteran, Economic Cooperation, Association of Zoos, Aquariums, Georgetown University’s Initiative, U.S, California Gov, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, “, Zoo, Associated Press Locations: America, California, San Diego, U.S, Memphis , Tennessee, China, Veteran China, People's Republic, Asia, San Francisco, United States, Washington, Memphis, Santa Ana , California

☆ US would welcome back any pandas from China, White House says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The United States would welcome back any giant pandas China decides to send, the White House said on Thursday after Chinese President Xi Jinping hinted he might return some of the cuddly-looking black-and-white bears as a friendship gesture. And we respect the sovereign decision that China made to remove some of the pandas," White House spokesman John Kirby said at a briefing. "And certainly should a decision be made by the PRC (People's Republic of China) to restore some of the pandas to the United States, we would absolutely welcome them back." He said he also learned that the San Diego Zoo and people in California look forward to welcoming pandas back. "Pandas have long been envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples," Xi said.

Persons: Xi Jinping, John Kirby, Xi, Xiang, Tian Tian, Xiao Qi Ji, Doina Chiacu, Michael Martina, Chris Reese Organizations: PRC, People's, San, Economic Cooperation, San Diego Zoo, Pandas, World Wildlife Fund, Zoo, Thomson Locations: United, China, People's Republic of China, United States, San Francisco, Asia, California, Washington, Sichuan

☆ PANDA WATCH: More Pandas might be coming to the US after multiple zoos had to send theirs away, China's top leader teases
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

General Secretary Xi Jinping opened the door to returning giant pandas to US zoos. Xi's comments come as all giant pandas at US zoos will soon be sent to China. Xi's comments came as lease agreements with US zoos are set to expire with no immediate replacement, meaning all giant pandas currently in the nation will soon return to China. The Atlanta Zoo is currently the only zoo in the US left with giant pandas. Advertisement"Recently, the three pandas at Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C. have returned to China.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Xi, Joe Biden, —, Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping, Xi's, Pat Nixon Organizations: Service, Chinese Communist Party Xi, Atlanta Zoo, Smithsonian National Zoo, Chinese Foreign Ministry, Washington Post, Biden Locations: China, Beijing, United States, Washington , DC, San Diego, Memphis, Washington

☆ Car Talk and Birthday Wishes Punctuate Biden’s ‘Trust but Verify’ Diplomacy
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Katie Rogers | More About Katie Rogers | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

“You know what they call that car?” Mr. Biden asked Mr. Xi. Mr. Biden wished Mr. Xi’s wife a happy birthday. Mr. Xi replied with embarrassment that he had forgotten her birthday was approaching because he had been working so much. At another point, Mr. Biden brandished a picture of a younger Mr. Xi standing on the Golden Gate Bridge. Mr. Biden eventually pierced the “Kumbaya” moment by telling reporters after the carefully coordinated summit that he still considered the Chinese leader a dictator.

Persons: Mr, Biden, Xi, ’, Xi’s, “, ‘, Mao Ning, Biden’s, Donald J, Trump, —, Vladimir V, Putin, Kim Jong Organizations: Economic Cooperation, Mr, North Locations: United States, China, Asia, Washington, Russia, Helsinki, North Korean, Lago, Florida

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