On Nov. 8, 2023, three pandas left Washington, DC, with a send-off fit for visiting heads of state.
asserted
pandas → leave → state
Crowds waved goodbye and helicopters filmed overhead as FedEx trucks carried the bears to the airport with a police escort.
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trucks → wave → escort
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian had spent nearly 23 years at the National Zoo.
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Xiang → spend → Zoo
Their 3-year-old cub, Xiao Qi Ji, was born there, but all three were leaving a month before the zoo’s loan agreement with China expired.
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agreement → bear → China
The panda house would be empty, and negotiations for replacements hadn’t begun.
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negotiations → begin → replacements
Yet zoo director Dr. Brandie Smith was confident pandas would return.
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pandas → return → ?
“I never doubted that we would get pandas back,” she told The Post.
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she → doubt → Post
Over the years, she’s witnessed firsthand how China uses its adorable black-and-white bears as diplomatic tools amidst international tensions.
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China → witness → tensions
China retains ownership of its loaned pandas and their offspring; Beijing always has something Americans want even when the governments struggle to get along.
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governments → retain → something
A week after the pandas’ 2023 departure, Chinese President Xi Jinping made the bears part of his pitch for friendlier relations.
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bears → make → relations
Speaking in San Francisco after his first meeting with President Biden in a year, he called them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples” and offered to continue panda cooperation with the United States.
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he → speak → States
The speech specifically mentioned Californians’ hopes of welcoming pandas back to San Diego.
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speech → mention → Diego
Washington had no replacement deal, but Smith was confident that pandas would return.
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pandas → have → deal
“[That was] not based on a specific conversation, but rather fifty years of history and demonstrated conservation success,” she told The Post.
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she → base → Post
She saw US permits as the potential holdup.
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She → see → holdup
“I was not worried about the agreement, but rather our U.S. Fish and Wildlife permitting process,” she said.
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she → worry → agreement
“It is a long and detailed process, and it could take one to two years, but the people at the USFWS did an incredible job moving the permits forward,” Smith said.
uncertain
Smith → take → permits
In 2024, Bao Li and Qing Bao came to Washington.
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Li → come → Washington
Smith signed the new ten-year breeding and research agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association on May 1, 2024.
uncertain
Smith → sign → May
The deal runs through April 2034 and comes with a substantial annual payment.
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deal → run → payment
“Under the agreement, we pay an annual conservation fee of $1 million to support giant panda research and conservation in China,” she said.
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she → pay → China
“That fee is covered entirely by David M. Rubenstein’s donation — no federal dollars are used to pay it.”
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dollars → cover → it
Rubenstein co-founded the private equity firm Carlyle Group and formerly chaired the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents.
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co → co → Regents
His donation supports a partnership in which even a Washington-born cub belongs to China.
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cub → support → China
“The adult bears are expected to stay through 2034, and any cubs born here must move to China by age four,” Smith explained.
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Smith → expect → age
Those cubs join China’s breeding program, rather than becoming permanent American residents.
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cubs → join → program
Asked whether tensions between Washington and Beijing had complicated her work, Smith stressed the scientists’ shared purpose.
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Smith → ask → purpose
“Helping conserve and save the giant panda has connected us with Chinese colleagues who share our focus and passion for saving the giant panda and its habitat,” she said.
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she → help → panda
“The panda program is often held up as the shining example of positive soft diplomacy.”
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program → hold → diplomacy
For Smith, that means agreeing on how the pandas will be treated.
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pandas → mean → Smith
“Our priorities are excellent animal care, meaningful collaborative research and a partnership that supports conservation over the long term,” she said.
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she → support → term
“My responsibility is to make sure the agreement allows us to deliver on those commitments.”
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us → make → commitments
That relationship has long supplied photo opportunities for political leaders.
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relationship → supply → leaders
In 2015, Michelle Obama and Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, announced the name of the zoo’s cub Bei Bei during the Chinese president’s state visit.
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Obama → announce → visit
The tradition goes back to 1972, when China sent Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing after President Richard Nixon’s visit.
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China → go → visit
Washington’s return gift required deliberation: bald eagles and mountain lions seemed too belligerent, a grizzly too Russian, and Beijing’s zoo already had a bison, Smith writes.
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Smith → require → bison
America settled on musk oxen Milton and Mathilda.
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America → settle → oxen
Smith quotes then-zoo director Ted Reed conceding, “I just don’t think musk oxen have the sex appeal pandas do.”
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pandas → quote → appeal
The Chinese partnership also helps with the less photogenic business of producing cubs.
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partnership → help → cubs
When Smith interviewed to become panda curator, she was told, “Your job is to get the panda pregnant.”
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panda → interview → ?
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
