World

How China’s pandas may reflect spiralling international relations with the West

Published

2 years ago

December 25, 2023

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Pandas are China’s undisputed pride and joy.

They are a symbol of statehood, in many ways a national obsession.

But they are also valuable diplomatic tools and, in Xi Jinping’s China, a litmus test of sorts for the state of international relations.

Indeed, in 2023 unprecedented numbers of Chinese pandas leant abroad and hosted in foreign zoos have returned home and not been replaced.

In a sign of just how strained relations with the West have become, by the end of 2024 there will likely be no pandas at all in either the US, the UK, or Australia for the first time in five decades.

China has a long history of gifting its iconic bears abroad, with evidence of this practice happening as early as the 7th century.

In the modern era, these gifts have taken the form of loans and China gave its first pandas to America in 1972 following a visit to Beijing by then President Nixon and his wife.

But the principle has remained the same: a gesture of trust and a soft power tool around which China could curry favour and build influence.

Over the years, Chinese pandas have been hosted in countries around the world from the US, the UK, Germany and France to Japan and South Korea, but it’s unclear how much longer this practice might continue.

At Beijing Zoo there are always crowds of people who gather to see the pandas. Some have travelled a long way, while others visit multiple times a year.

And there is one resident in particular whose story explains what a serious diplomatic business the lending of pandas has become.

Ya Ya is 23 years old and a solid fan favourite. She is not currently on show to the public, but the zoo releases weekly videos showing her progress.

She returned home earlier this year from a long-term loan in America, amid a social media and diplomatic storm.

After images of her from Memphis Zoo looking skinny with ragged fur went viral, angry Chinese social media users called for her to be returned and the accusation that America was mistreating her spread rapidly.

Although Memphis Zoo insisted her appearance was down to a genetic skin condition and even though Chinese authorities later said Ya Ya had been treated well, the rumours were not curtailed by the censors and were enough to have influence on public opinion.

“All the sufferings Ya Ya had in America made me very uncomfortable,” says Shao Yanping a regular zoo visitor and a close follower of Ya Ya’s story.

“I don’t like America. The way they’ve treated our national treasure makes me dislike them even more. She was abused there. You can see with your own eyes. Just saying ‘we didn’t abuse it’, is not okay.”

The fact this narrative was allowed to run was indicative of increasingly strained relations. At the time little progress had been made to patch things up following the so-called spy balloon incident.

But while Ya Ya became a symbol of spiralling tensions, many other pandas were also being withdrawn.

Indeed, adult pandas Yang Guang and Tian Tian made their way home from Edinburgh Zoo recently after a stay of 12 years, while three pandas left Washington’s Smithsonian National zoo in November after their lease was not renewed.

The only pandas remaining in the US are in Atlanta, and their lease is also set to expire in 2024.

By the end of next year, there will likely be no pandas in the States for the first time in 50 years.

“Having that kind of connectivity to the outside world is really wonderful for China and it’s great for the world to know more about China.” says Professor Robert Koepp, an expert on China-US relations and director of the Asia-Pacific Geoeconomics and Business Initiative.

He explains that while removing soft power tools may not serve China in the long term, it is reflective of its new harder line diplomacy.

“You had this ‘Panda Diplomacy’ but lately it’s been more ‘Wolf Warrior Diplomacy,’ this highly aggressive form of, you can’t even call it outreach, it’s posturing.” he says.

“So we’ve gone from pandas to wolves, from cuddliness to aggressiveness, and that isn’t to say that China shouldn’t feel it has the right to be assertive and look after its own interest as any country should, but it’s the way it’s gone about it, it really isn’t earning too many friends outside maybe Russia and North Korea.”

Indeed, China is still sending pandas to some and it’s perhaps indicative as to where its loyalties lie.

Russia is one recent recipient. Pictures of President Xi and President Putin beaming together at Moscow Zoo crossed the world in 2019, and China has since then moved ever closer to its northern neighbour.

It is possible pandas could return to the West. Xi Jinping hinted as much at a recent summit with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco.

But while that summit offered a very slight easing of tensions, there is still so much that divides them and thus so much that could block any future agreement.

For now, it seems, pandas remain a precious bargaining chip, and a symbol of strained relations.

World

UK condemns Israel’s approval of plans for new West Bank settlement to ‘erase’ idea of Palestinian state

Published

3 hours ago

August 21, 2025

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UK condemns Israel's approval of plans for new West Bank settlement to 'erase' idea of Palestinian state

The UK has condemned Israel’s approval of plans for a new West Bank settlement, which has been hailed as “erasing” the idea of a Palestinian state by an Israeli minister.

David Lammy said the settlement, planned to be built east of Jerusalem, “would divide a Palestinian state in two”.

In a post on the X social media platform, the foreign secretary called the settlement in the West Bank “a flagrant breach of international law”, which “critically undermines the two-state solution”, and urged the Israeli government to reverse the decision.

The approval of the plans was announced by Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, on Wednesday after they received the final go-ahead from Israel’s higher planning committee.

Mr Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist in the ruling right-wing coalition, said in a statement that the government was delivering with the settlement what it had promised for years: “The Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans but with actions.”

He said last week that the settlement would “finally bury the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise”.

The settlement is set to be built in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, and includes around 3,500 apartments to expand the existing settlement of Maale Adumim.

E1 has been eyed for Israeli development for more than two decades, but plans were halted due to pressure from the US during previous administrations.

Peace Now, which tracks settlement activity in the West Bank, said if the bureaucratic process moves quickly, infrastructure work on E1 could start in the next few months, with the construction of homes to follow in about a year.

“The E1 plan is deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution. We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed,” Peace Now said in a statement last week.

It added that the planned settlement was “guaranteeing many more years of bloodshed”.

‘Stake through the heart of the two-state solution’

A two-state solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict would see a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza existing side by side with Israel, but campaign groups fear the new settlement could undermine a future peace deal with the Palestinians.

The UN condemned the decision to approve the settlement, with spokesperson Stephane Dujarric saying that it “will drive a stake through the heart of the two-state solution”.

The Palestinian foreign ministry added that the settlement would isolate Palestinian communities living in the area and undermine the possibility of a two-state solution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet commented on the plans.

But during a visit to a West Bank settlement on Sunday, he said: “I said 25 years ago that we will do everything to secure our grip on the Land of Israel, to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, to prevent the attempts to uproot us from here. Thank God, what I promised, we have delivered.”

Today, an estimated 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. There is also a growing movement of Israelis wanting to build settlements in Gaza.

Settlers make up around 5% of Israel’s population and 15% of the West Bank’s population, according to data from Peace Now.

Settlements are illegal under international law and have been condemned by the UN. They are, however, authorised by the Israeli government.

World

New Zealand: Family’s plea to fugitive dad on the run with children for nearly four years

Published

6 hours ago

August 20, 2025

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New Zealand: Family's plea to fugitive dad on the run with children for nearly four years

The family of a father who disappeared with his three children nearly four years ago in New Zealand have broken their silence to appeal for him to return home.

In December 2021, Tom Phillips vanished into the wilderness with his two daughters and son – but his family have said they still remain hopeful “today will be the day you all come home”.

Phillips, along with Jayda, now aged 12, Maverick, 10, and Ember, nine, were last believed to have been seen in a “credible sighting” last October hiking through a bush area near Marokopa on the country’s North Island.

For the first time, his family have directly appealed to Phillips in the hope that “just maybe, he’s going to see this” and “that we are here for him”.

In an interview with New Zealand journalist Paddy Gower, his sister Rozzi Phillips said she missed being part of her brother’s life, adding “I really want to see you” and “you’re very special to me”.

She also read out a handwritten message from Phillips’ mother, Julia, which came from her “heart, just to her son”.

“Tom, I feel really sad that you thought you had to do this, not considering how much we love you and could support you,” she said.

“It hurts every time I see photos of the children and of you and see some of your stuff that is still here, thinking what could have been if you’d not gone away.”

According to New Zealand news site, Stuff, the letter ended with a message for the three children.

“We love you so much and really miss being part of your lives,” it read.

“Every day we wake up and hope that today will be the day you all come home.”

Ms Phillips said her brother is a skilled builder and would have constructed a shelter.

Police believe his actions could be linked to a custody battle.

There have been numerous reported sightings since December 2021.

The most recent last October was said to be from a distance when the group were seen wearing camouflage gear and carrying large camping backpacks.

World

Israel calls up thousands of reservists as it prepares to launch new Gaza offensive

Published

12 hours ago

August 20, 2025

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Israel calls up thousands of reservists as it prepares to launch new Gaza offensive

Israel will call up 60,000 reservists as it prepares to launch an expanded military operation in Gaza City.

The military said the country’s defence minister Israel Katz has approved plans to begin a new phase of operations in some of the most densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces will operate in areas of Gaza City where they have not yet operated and where it believes Hamas is still active, a military official said.

The city is the main military and governing stronghold of Hamas and Israeli troops will target the group’s vast underground network, the official added.

Although Israel has targeted and killed much of Hamas’ senior leadership, parts of the group are actively regrouping and carrying out attacks, including launching rockets towards Israel, the official said.

It remains unclear when the operation will begin, but it could be a matter of days.

The official said 60,000 reservists will be called up in the coming month and the service of an additional 20,000 reservists currently serving will be lengthened.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the objectives of the war are to secure the release of the remaining hostages and destroy Hamas.

International criticism of Israel increased after the planned offensive was announced earlier this month amid fears of another mass displacement of Palestinians.

The families of the hostages and former army and intelligence chiefs oppose an expanded operation in Gaza City, with most of the families of hostages wanting an immediate ceasefire.

They worry an expanded assault could threaten prospects of bringing the 50 remaining hostages home. Israel believes 20 of those are still alive.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting 251.

Many of the hostages have been released in ceasefires and other deals, with Hamas saying it will only free the remainder in exchange of a lasting ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal.

More than 62,000 people have been killed during Israel’s 22-month counteroffensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up around half of those killed.

Earlier this week, the ministry said 154 adults had died of malnutrition-related causes since the ministry began counting such deaths in late June, and 112 children have died of malnutrition-related causes since the war began.