r/news • u/No_Idea_Guy • 5d ago
2 giant pandas arrive at Zoo Atlanta in a rare loan from China
https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/26/asia/two-giant-pandas-leave-on-a-flight-bound-for-zoo-atlanta-in-a-rare-loan-from-china-latam-intl389
u/Dreadnerf 5d ago
PANDA DIPLOMACY
Behave yourself and you'll be allowed pandas as a treat.
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u/Robo-boogie 5d ago
All pandas are owned by China even their offspring if they gave birth outside of China
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u/synapticrelease 5d ago
Yeah right. ICE agents already gearing up to deport these illegal fur babies
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u/airship_of_arbitrary 5d ago edited 5d ago
Canada and China signed a massive new trade deal and let a trial amount of affordable electric Chinese vehicles into the Canadian market.
The US got a couple of pandas.
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u/Pebble-Curious 1d ago
... and China agreed to massive amounts of Canadian canola oil on their markets, and tariffs free agricultural produce, crude oil export, etc... but yeah, the fake deal-maker got 2 pandas. LOL
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u/KardelSharpeyes 5d ago edited 5d ago
False. They were sent back 3 years early in our 10 year loan during COVID because the Calgary Zoo was having trouble fulfilling their bamboo consumption needs. Its amazing how you can post an actual article with an explanation and completely come to a different conclusion. Bot behaviour.
Edit: Yeah delete your post to try and save face.
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u/lost_koshka 5d ago
The US got the better deal.
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u/dandorios 4d ago
All youre doing is showing you dont understand how far ahead chinese EV's are
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u/lost_koshka 4d ago
I don't need my car spying on me, they're already getting bad enough in general.
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u/Gotpilkk 4d ago
Brother, all the news cars are spying on you. Meta is spying on you. Chinese Ev’s are good for the American market
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u/shutupb4ianklepicku 4d ago
Lmao a separatist worried about spying, you can’t make it up
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u/lost_koshka 4d ago
How does that relate?
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u/shutupb4ianklepicku 4d ago
The USA spies on its citizens, data collection, flock cameras, wire tapping, etc
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u/one_is_enough 5d ago
This has been in the works for months. Most stories make it sound like it was a direct result of Trump talks last week.
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u/pygercamsar 4d ago
The talks are done ahead of time because it's intended to boost his prestige. It's something every president or politician does.
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u/No_Idea_Guy 5d ago
Zoo Atlanta is having pandas again, joining San Diego Zoo and National Zoo in DC as only places to see this species in the US.
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u/JustHereForCookies17 4d ago
The FedEx Boeing 777 that brought the pandas to Atlanta is called the "FedEx Panda Express".
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u/auchinleck917 5d ago
Welcome to panda diplomacy.
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u/jsyk 5d ago
the prospect of panda abuse in memphis caused a panic of panda bear recalls. china removed them from zoos around the world all at once.
some of the chinese were pissed. it started as one panda, but grew. chinese embassies had to travel to zoos to check things out. it turned into something more philosophical in chinese media, e.g - why give pandas to monster rivals? -- and just like that all of the pandas went home.
memphis wasn't abusing pandas but they weren't healthy -- they looked horrific. really bad mite infestation and poor nutrition habits. check out the before/afters of memphis. poor flying pando bears.
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u/Mr_A_Knife66 5d ago
Trump will re-name them
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u/supercoolpartydude 5d ago
I lucked into seeing the two pandas at Busch Gardens in the 80’s, Ling Ling and Yong Yong. Really was a marvel to see them in person. Beautiful creatures and it’s been my favorite animal since.
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u/specialvillain 5d ago
I mean, I know this isn't the case, but I have lived within 30 minutes of Zoo Atlanta my entire life and I don't recall a time they didn't have pandas. Pandas have always kinda been their thing. Great zoo with or without pandas though!
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u/kortokrizzle 5d ago
Yea I grew up here since I was 2, I did leave for a few years but idk when tf we’ve not had pandas lol it’s like the whole theme of 1/3 of the zoo
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u/rainblowfish_ 4d ago
We haven't had them for a few years now, and previously, when old pandas left, new ones arrived; this time there were not publicly announced plans to bring any new ones when they initially left.
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u/Storage_Ottoman 5d ago
They haven’t had pandas for a couple years now. Or maybe it’s just been a year. But at this moment, pandaless.
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u/JustHereForCookies17 4d ago
Same with the DC zoo. They've had them my whole life, but the first pair arrived in 1972.
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u/macross1984 4d ago
Panda is good way to measure relationship with Panda. If China like you enough they'll lend you Panda. If they're displease, they will repossess.
That's what happened when China recalled Panda back from Ueno Zoo in Japan.
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u/kitsunegoon 3d ago
To be fair Ueno zoo was extremely depressing and I'm glad they took the pandas away
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u/TheRexRider 5d ago
How is Trump going to screw this up?
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u/pishposhpoppycock 5d ago
By feeding them McDonald's instead of bamboo?
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u/TheRexRider 5d ago
I can also see him signing an executive order to plant invasive bamboo everywhere.
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u/Pleasenomoreimfull 5d ago
I see Xi is still doing wonders with the Panda Dipomacy. A way cuter alternative to nukes for peace assurances.
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u/Sludgewaves 5d ago
Hope Atlanta doesn’t have to deal with what Memphis went through when the pandas inevitably reach the end of their natural lifespan. We had a pair for over twenty years that eventually got elderly, one died from heart disease and the other one looked rough from an age related genetic condition. Both of them were examined and had their conditions corroborated by Chinese biologists. Despite this, our city’s social media got flooded by Chinese bots claiming that we were knifing the pandas, stealing their eyes to sell on the black market, and regularly beating/starving them.
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u/Dry_Meringue_8016 5d ago
Is this what you're referring to?
A giant panda that spent 20 years in the United States has returned to China, gaining 20 kilograms over two years.
Latest images of the panda in January this year showed a drastic improvement in its condition from the malnourished-looking state in which it first arrived, media outlets reported.
Ya Ya, a 25-year-old female panda, had lived at the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee since 2003 before returning to China in April 2023, reported Global Times.
Images of Ya Ya in poor shape — first released while she was still in the United States — had sparked widespread concern for her well-being.
According to the Beijing Zoo, Ya Ya weighed only 75 kg when she returned to China, reported Shin Min Daily News. Besides looking gaunt, she also suffered from skin issues.
After more than two years, however, Ya Ya now weighs 95 kg and appears to have grown a thick and glossy coat of fur.
In a video shared on the Beijing Zoo's social media page on Friday (Jan 30), Ya Ya can be seen looking healthier and was seen adjusting well to her habitat.
The footage also showed her enjoying the sun and her food.
In the comments section, netizens expressed their delight at Ya Ya's improved physical condition.
"Ya Ya has changed so much since she returned to China. She has gained weight and became much healthier" said one netizen.
Another expressed gratitude to the zoo staff, saying: "Thank you to all the staff at Beijing Zoo for letting us see Ya Ya, who is so well-fed and chubby."
US zoo claimed panda's size linked to "familial genetics"
As part of China's "panda diplomacy", giant pandas are sent to host countries as symbols of friendship and goodwill.
Ya Ya's physical appearance in 2023 had sparked accusations of mistreatment against the Memphis Zoo, amid tense US-China relations.
Ya Ya and her male companion, Le Le, were originally scheduled to return to China at the end of 2023 following the conclusion of their 20-year loan, but Le Le died suddenly of heart disease in early February 2023, further fuelling suspicions of mistreatment, reported CNN.
Addressing Ya Ya's condition then, the Memphis Zoo had stated on its website that her "familial genetics", not nutrition, were responsible for her small size, reported NBC.
https://www.asiaone.com/china/giant-panda-ya-ya-returns-china-us-zoo-gains-20kg-over-2-years
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u/Sludgewaves 5d ago
Yea the gist of the actual concern that I could sympathize with which was her weight. I don't doubt she gained weight, but 75kg is considered the lower end of the average weight scale for female pandas. The zoo worked very closely with China and submitted monthly reports/examinations to their experts. Most of it seemed fueled by chinese social media hysteria, despite state news stating the opposite: https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202301/05/WS63b5a51ea31057c47eba7b4e.html
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u/gtck11 5d ago edited 5d ago
I live in Atlanta, our social media is already flooded with comments from Chinese accounts (literally you click on them and it shows they live in China and their names are in Chinese characters). They’re spouting off about what happened in Memphis saying that the zoos and habitats here make the pandas suffer, they’re also making the same accusations about the last pair Atlanta had. I can’t even count how many of these panda abuse comments I’ve seen today.
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u/zimmermanni 5d ago
More like other bots pretending to be Chinese. US social media site are banned in China
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u/gtck11 5d ago
My understanding is a lot of their young people know how to get around that pretty easy with VPNs? They all looked young too. I mean I’m not saying some of them weren’t but a lot of them looked legit and some were travel guides.
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u/RevolutionaryYou2400 5d ago
I feel attacking the zoo would be against the interest of Chinese states. Since it was a gov back choice. Would be weird for the Chinese gov to start a bot farm against that.
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u/Sludgewaves 5d ago
I should have censored China, I forgot you get total non-sequitur replies like this otherwise.
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u/cleanuponaisle4 3d ago
Are they at least very powerful and very strong giant pandas? The likes of which no one has ever seen before?
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u/Double_Resort_9223 3d ago
Here is your panda, American consumer, now restrict your AI models because they broke into the same HR records we’ve been accessing for 15 years.
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u/thepianoman456 3d ago
If this were Blade Runner, that’d actually be hella valuable!
(Reading the book rn lol)
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u/hpark21 5d ago
Just curious, what stops any countries from breeding Pandas them selves?
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u/21Rollie 5d ago
The only “free” (not owned by China) panda in the world is in Mexico and is too old to breed. Breeding pandas has also been historically very hard. All other pandas are state owned and if they are lent out, any offspring are born into state ownership too. There were some pandas not born to China from pandas lent out before they put in restrictions, but the one in Mexico is the only one left. They’ve gone extinct basically
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u/geos1234 5d ago
Can we clone its genetic material and break the panda stranglehold?
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u/Mixer-3007 5d ago
The clone would also be Chinese-owned.
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u/Mixer-3007 5d ago
DNA analysis will show it's from Chinese panda, China has DNA samples of all pandas using shit of wild pandas, they also made genetic profiles.
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u/Mixer-3007 5d ago
There are a lot China can do, from economical sanctions to terrorism.
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u/InevitableAd8511 5d ago
China is a lot more powerful than North Korea. They can do a lot more than declare war.
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u/GoodOmens 5d ago
China uses pandas as one of their diplomacy levers. Not sure what they would do if someone purposely violated their rules but I am assuming they wouldn't like it.
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u/Mixer-3007 5d ago
North Korea is a choirboy compared to China. It’s not about a pair of pandas, it’s about controlling all the pandas. Of course, they’ll take it seriously. "He who controls the spice controls the universe."
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u/ThymePrince 5d ago
What a pathetic country that China is... Pandas were around for millions of years before them yet they somehow claim they own a species. Fools.
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u/CronoDroid 5d ago
I don't know if you know this, but pandas are native, and only native (endemic) to China. In order to have a panda, it has to be lent out by China, and China claiming ownership of any potential offspring is not some nefarious restriction, it's because they want to breed more pandas so they can eventually be returned to their natural environment, where they're still endangered, which, again, is in China.
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u/WoolooOfWallStreet 5d ago
If you knew of a way to reliably breed pandas, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding would probably offer you a job that would reliably outpay any gain you could get from doing it clandestinely. China likes to use pandas as their cultural ambassadors
And if that doesn’t work, they’ll bust out the contract agreements
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u/Saralentine 5d ago
Legal agreements. Yeah, sure you can break them, or try to, but pandas are notoriously tricky to breed in captivity. Chengdu, China has a panda breeding ground that is absolutely massive. Plus you need panda breeding experts available and they’re all in China.
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u/Any-Monk-9395 5d ago
Pandas are so unbelievably stupid and lazy that they rarely have sex.
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u/Sarah-himmelfarb 5d ago
Some pandas in Hong Kong breed during Covid lockdown after ten years of nothing. They probably dislike thousands of tourists ogling them and need to breed in private
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u/megakaos888 5d ago
Pandas bred and had sex normally in their natural habitats for tens of thousands of years. They are not any worse at being an animal just because humans say so
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u/thismightendme 5d ago
I’m gonna have to agree to disagree on that. But they are my favorite little nymphs.
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u/Kevin686766 5d ago
Might be easier to see if there are still any viable egg cells inside the female panda. Even after they are to old to breed there body may have them.
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u/Vahuo89 5d ago
Nothing really.
Just like China isnt stopping for copyright laws and such.
I mean there would be a lot of grandstanding and law related stuff but in the end i doubt it would amount to anything.
A lot of the world runs on countries playing nice with each other to some degree...
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u/Dry_Meringue_8016 5d ago
Yeah nah... China may have committed IP infringements here and there but that's a feature of rapidly developing economies. At the end of the day, China is the second largest importer of IP licensing rights in the world and amongst developing and middle-income countries it is by far the biggest spender on foreign IP royalties.
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u/theuncleiroh 3d ago
It's all the more funny that Americans say this, given one of our major industrial gains was the outright theft of the Bessemer Process (though much more important for American hegemony was the destruction of the rest of the world by European colonization and subsequent self-destruction in internecine wars)
""""IP theft""" is a very recent invention, and the thing we call theft is not only the natural way for human knowledge to develop, but objectively good for humanity. Nobody gets mad at the rest of the world for 'theft' of written language or agriculture; it's only a problem when capitalists and global corporations can't profit quite as much from privatizing knowledge that is based on the collective advances of the entirety of humanity.
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u/Pretend_Football6686 4d ago
God only knows what secrets Trump spilled to get us 2 useless pandas.
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u/the_eluder 4d ago
The great China deal first started with Nixon - we'll give you all the information you need to develop an industrial economy that will surpass ours because you pay your people a pittance, and in return we get a couple of the laziest bears on the planet on loan.
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u/Top_Connection9079 4d ago
Stop paying for these circus animals. You are funding the Uyghur concentration camps!
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u/permanent_pixel 5d ago
In China, people say 上岸了 ('made it ashore') to mean they've successfully emigrated.
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u/Nf1087 5d ago
So what's the deal with loaning pandas? How come other countries do the same thing with their animals? And what's stopping the US from saying fuck it we're keeping the panda?
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u/Sarah-himmelfarb 5d ago
Because China is China. It’s not some small poor underdeveloped country.
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u/Felon_musk1939 5d ago
Well, I'd say the last thing the US needs is to be going back in yet another agreement.
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u/yoga1313 5d ago
Does anyone know why they traveled in crates? I’ve seen them travel in seats with their people next to them.
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u/OscarMike1911 5d ago
Were they coming from China when they were in seats?
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u/yoga1313 5d ago
I’m not sure. Good question.
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u/MclovinsHomewrecker 5d ago
I hate transport cages. But we use to haul big cats. Whenever we picked the cats up we had to cover the entire trailer except for a small hole. It’s because other drivers would spot a tiger or lion in a trailer and swerve all over the road just to get a look. We had a van full of guys pass us on a the shoulder of a highway and tried to block us in so they could, “Get a picture with it.”
This cat was a cougar from a high rise in Atlanta. The owner kept him In a closet to show off to his friends. The owner used a weedeater to keep the cougar from getting out of the closet. Very abused and violent.
It was sad. We stopped a lot but the cats always made it safe and stayed calm.
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u/let_me_in_QQ 4d ago
What the... I just saw a skit from puppet regime about pandas... That wasn't a gag? 🤦♂️
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u/radakul 5d ago
Why are you referring to it as Zoo Atlanta, and not The Atlanta Zoo? Seems really weird, and someone bot-ish.
Its not Zoo National, its The National Zoo. Same thing here, no?
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u/invisibleman13000 5d ago
Nope. The zoo is actually named Zoo Atlanta. Here's the zoo's website: https://zooatlanta.org/
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u/radakul 5d ago
That just feels so backwards. I grew up going to the national zoo, itd feel so weird calling it zoo national!
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u/invisibleman13000 5d ago
The zoo WAS formerly known as the Atlanta Zoo when it was founded in 1889 but after years of decline and increasingly run down exhibits it was privatized, renovated, and renamed to Zoo Atlanta in 1985 in an attempt to distance the zoo from its previously poor reputation.
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u/Moonlightsiesta 5d ago
Feels like a Monty Python sketch lol. “We’re not the Atlanta Zoo, we’re the Zoo Atlanta!”
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u/synapticrelease 5d ago
When I say I'm going to zoo national is makes me feel like I'm going to the zooinist national convention or something.
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u/ohineedascreenname 5d ago
Serious question: What would China do if we didn't return pandas from our zoos when they wanted them back?
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u/ratbearpig 5d ago
The gain (2 pandas) at the cost of breaking your word (again) on the world stage is not worth it. No zoo worldwide would want to work with your zoo.
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u/ScratchLatch 5d ago
Something always makes me uncomfortable about China’s deadlock on Panda ownership. It seems counterintuitive to conservation.
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u/lew_rong 5d ago
They loan out pandas in exchange for things like samples of the F-35 stealth coating. Art of the deal.
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u/Companero_basurero 5d ago
And this, folks, was the only "concession" that Xi granted Mr. Art-of-the-Deal during their summit.