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Two Chinese giant pandas head for Taiwan
2008-12-22
YA'AN (AFP) - A pair of giant pandas made their last public appearance in China on Monday ahead of their long-anticipated departure to Taiwan, marking a blossoming of ties between the island and its arch rival. The pandas appeared healthy and active while eating bamboo and fruit at an outdoor enclosure in a panda base in Sichuan, southwest China where a Taiwanese delegation arrived earlier Monday to bring them to the self-ruled island. The two four-year-olds, "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan", are at a base nestled in the scenic Bifeng Gorge in Ya'an, where they have stayed since they were evacuated from the famed Wolong reserve due to damage in the May 12 earthquake. "Tuanyuan" -- a combination of the characters making up the two pandas' names -- means "reunion" in Chinese. The relocation of the pair comes amid hopes on both sides that the goodwill gesture will be matched by an increased willingness to work towards warmer cross-strait relations. Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but Beijing still considers the island to be part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. "We are here to take a last look at Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan because they are going to Taiwan," said four-year-old Xu Jiayu. "We are sorry to see the pandas go, but they are the messenger of peace and we hope they will bring joy to Taiwanese children," Liu Xiaoli, a kindergarten teacher, told AFP. Liu was accompanying a group of local children to say goodbye to the pandas and some of the kids were to perform at a farewell gathering due to take place on Tuesday in Ya'an. The pandas will then travel to the provincial capital Chengdu where authorities will see them off in a ceremony before they board a chartered jet from Taiwan's Eva Airways, heading straight for their new home in Taipei. The pandas' new keeper Yu Hsueh-ying from the Taipei Zoo, who was among a team of 20 animal experts to take care of the pandas, came to Sichuan 10 days ago in preparation for their relocation. "Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan are very healthy and we will do our best to look after them in Taipei," she said. The city will hold a welcoming ceremony for the panda couple on Wednesday, but the two main characters will not be there, as they will begin a 30-day quarantine immediately upon arrival. They are both expected to be unveiled to the Taiwanese public during the Lunar New Year holidays starting January 25, if they complete the quarantine with a clean bill of health. Beijing's pandas usually come with enormous rental fees, but in this case the Chinese have said there will be no charges for Taiwan. However, the panda deal is not without controversy in Taiwan. Taiwan's pro-independence opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lambasted the deal between the China-friendly Kuomintang government and Beijing. "In the donation, Beijing has seen Taipei as one of its cities. It has a very strong political implication," DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang told AFP. "'Tuan Tuan' and 'Yuan Yuan' means a union, which perfectly matches Beijing's goal of bringing Taiwan into its fold," he said. Cheng accused Beijing of trying to use the "pandamania" to lower Taiwanese people's mistrust of Beijing. "But this is not the way to solve the cross-Strait issues," he said.
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