Taipei Mayor Hails Shanghai Red Panda as Cross-Strait Win; Critic Slams Political 'Hype'

Taipei City is celebrating the arrival of a red panda from Shanghai, with Mayor Chiang Wan-an characterizing it as a tangible achievement of cross-strait dialogue. However, this narrative has been met with criticism from opposition legislator Ho Meng-hua, who argues the celebration is politically charged and overlooks existing international cooperation.

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The blue camp treats them differently based on their country of origin: the Shanghai red panda is featured in questioning and front-page news, creating a big fuss; 'Xixi' is not cared for and is just treated as a routine zoo exchange.

Ho Meng-hua pointed out that Taipei's zoo had already welcomed a female red panda named "Xixi" from Japan's Asahiyama Zoo on March 16. She contended that "Xixi" received little attention, being treated as a routine zoo exchange, while the Shanghai red panda has been prominently featured in political discussions and media coverage.

"The blue camp treats them differently based on their country of origin," Ho stated, referring to the ruling party's perceived favoritism. She added that Taipei's zoo maintains breeding cooperation with numerous zoos worldwide that adhere to international conservation standards. Ho expressed support for animal exchanges conducted under international norms but questioned the political maneuvering surrounding the Shanghai red panda's arrival.

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We welcome red pandas coming to Taiwan through international conservation norms, and we hope that Mayor Chiang Wan-an can provide more funding and employee benefits to the zoo to promote more international exchanges and expand city diplomacy.

Further complicating the narrative, Ho revealed that import permits and quarantine conditions for the Shanghai red panda were provided by the central government as early as November last year. The animal's delayed arrival in June, instead of the anticipated February, and the substitution of a white-handed gibbon for the black-footed penguin originally intended for Shanghai, suggest potential political interference from China. Ho urged China to embrace openness, freedom, and democracy, drawing a parallel to the open-source community's spirit, and to cease using political tactics to obstruct Taiwan's international participation.

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We welcome normal cross-strait exchanges, but this animal exchange, which is common in international exchanges, is clearly more complicated than exchanges between Japan and Taiwan or between Taiwan and other countries.