On Balance | Panda diplomacy is great, but China-US climate cooperation is needed to protect all species

Thanks to Sino-American collaboration, the giant panda is no longer endangered

Even as US politicians raise tensions on Taiwan, Beijing should reconsider the decision to suspend cooperation on climate change, whose effects threaten the Earth’s natural balance

Reading Time:3 minutes

A reception at the Chinese embassy in Washington on August 26 highlights the 50th anniversary of giant pandas’ arrival in the United States. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 1:30am, 30 Aug 2022

The past five years of US-China animosity have trained us not to ask in what areas the bilateral relationship could improve, but instead how far the two countries are from full severance and military conflict. So a couple of glimpses of harmony last week felt like an unexpected rainstorm that breaks a heatwave.

Amid the late August quiet in Washington, with lawmakers and lobbyists off to beaches or mountain getaways for some relaxation before the business of government revs back up next month, we saw signs of warmth.

At Beijing’s embassy, diplomats, zoologists and a wide range of that dying species known as “panda huggers” gathered to recognise the second birthday of giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji, a star attraction at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, as well as 50 years of joint efforts by China and the United States to bring the species back from the edge of extinction.

Ambassador Qin Gang’s guests numbering into the hundreds oohed and aahed at a documentary showing Xiao Qi Ji, as well as numerous other giant pandas and their young offspring frolicking in nature reserves and breeding centres, where decades of Sino-US cooperation has taken the animals off the “endangered” list.

American and Chinese scientists shared stories about how excited they were to inform each other about successful births at Washington’s zoo and in sprawling nature reserves and breeding centres in China’s Sichuan province, and for a couple of hours we were transported to a time when Sino-US engagement felt natural.

Two days later, there was another breakthrough. The China Securities Regulatory Commission and the US’ Public Company Accounting Oversight Board signed an accord on audit cooperation, possibly ending an impasse that has weighed on the valuations of Chinese stocks owing to the mass expulsion from US exchanges that would ensue without such an agreement.

However, the sceptics weighed in immediately with doubts about whether Chinese companies will be forthcoming enough to satisfy the demands of the US authorities. Some American politicians, predictably, added their voices, simultaneously taking credit for the legislative pressure that forced the Chinese side to come to an accommodation and warning the oversight board to stick to its guns.

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}On Balance | Panda diplomacy is great, but China-US climate cooperation is needed to protect all species

On Balance | Panda diplomacy is great, but China-US climate cooperation is needed to protect all species