Red pandas arriving in Taiwan called a Taipei-Shanghai Forum achievement; commentator asks if Taipei should also hold forum with Japan

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an announced on June 4 that two red pandas are scheduled to arrive in Taiwan this Saturday, characterizing their arrival as a tangible result of the Taipei-Shanghai City Forum. He noted that the species exchange cooperation memorandum was signed during the forum.

However, political commentator Chou Hsuan challenged this assertion, highlighting that Taipei Zoo had already received red pandas from Japan's Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido back in March. Chou posted on Facebook that media outlets were headlining the red panda arrival as a "Taipei-Shanghai City Forum achievement."

Chou suggested that if the red pandas from Shanghai are considered a forum outcome, then Taipei should logically also host a "Taipei-Asahikawa Forum" with Japan, given the existing cooperation with Asahiyama Zoo. He humorously advised Shen Po-yang to add this to his "Infinite City Forum" list.

Taipei Deputy Mayor Lin Yi-hua added that while Taipei had initially planned to send black-footed penguins to Shanghai, the Shanghai Zoo already had sufficient genetic diversity. Consequently, Taipei will instead send a white-handed gibbon.