Since giving a pair of giant pandas to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in 1972 following President Richard Nixon’s visit to Beijing, China has used panda loans as a means of projecting a harmless and friendly image globally. But it was always an act—and foreign audiences are no longer falling for it.
BERLIN—During his recent visit to Washington, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China would send a breeding pair of giant pandas to Zoo Atlanta. The “envoys of friendship,” Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, arrived just a few days later. This is hardly the first time China has used its iconic bear as an instrument of soft power. By loaning the animals to overseas zoos, it seeks to project an image of China not as a threatening dragon, but rather as a tough but cuddly charmer.