The Hindu : International : China gifts two giant pandas to Taiwan

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Thursday, May 05, 2005

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International

China gifts two giant pandas to Taiwan

Jonathan Watts

Charm offensive includes easing curbs on tourism, farm imports

BEIJING: In the world of diplomacy, the gestures do not get much bigger, or hairier, than this.

China's campaign to woo Taiwan away from declaring independence has taken another turn on Tuesday with an offer of two giant pandas to mark the first meeting of the leaders of the Communist party and its historic foe, the Kuomintang, since the civil war ended in 1949.

The ``panda diplomacy'' — — for China, they represent the country's ultimate gift — was part of a charm offensive that also included an easing of restrictions on tourism and agricultural imports, designed to bolster support for Lien Chan, head of Taiwan's main Opposition party.

It followed a groundbreaking trip to the mainland by Mr. Lien, whose Kuomintang party retreated to Taiwan from the mainland 56 years ago.

Beijing has improved ties with its old foe to split public opinion in Taiwan and press the island's independence-minded president, Chen Shui-bian, to reconcile with it.

Mr. Chen responded on Tuesday by inviting China's President, Hu Jintao, to visit the island state. During a visit to the state of Kiribati, in the south Pacific, Mr. Chen said: ``Mainland China clearly lacks understanding about Taiwan and that is why there has been misjudgment and misunderstanding.''

The pandas are part of an intensifying carrot-and-stick campaign against Taiwanese separatism that has also seen China boost the number of missiles aimed at the island and pass an anti-secession law justifying the use of force to prevent independence.

Diplomatic ties

China has used panda diplomacy in the past. In the 1970s, it supplied zoos in the U.S. and Europe as a sign of friendship after the restoration of full diplomatic ties.

Taiwan has yet to accept the animals. —

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