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Julian Ryall

Panda diplomacy is back in play as Japan seeks to charm visiting Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng with hopes of securing one or two of the endangered bears on loan.
The gesture could help soothe bilateral ties and signal regional unity amid growing unease over US trade policy under President Donald Trump, analysts have said.
He, a close adviser to President Xi Jinping, is scheduled to attend the World Expo in Osaka for “national pavilion day” at the Chinese pavilion on Friday.
The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Sunday that Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and chairman of the Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship League, would meet He in Osaka and request the loan of at least one panda for a Japanese zoo.
There was an outpouring of sorrow when four pandas kept at a wildlife park in Wakayama prefecture, central Japan, were returned to their homeland in June. At present, there are only two pandas in the country, at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, and those are due to return to China in February.

“Japanese people love to see pandas and they are deeply symbolic, but it goes beyond that at a time like this,” said Hiromi Murakami, a professor of political science at the Tokyo campus of Temple University.
“With the US administration being so harsh on tariffs on both countries at the moment, I think both sides are trying to build better relationships with other countries in the region,” she told This Week in Asia.
“In this situation, pandas are effectively a bargaining chip that can be used to make bilateral ties stronger and, for China, to show to the rest of the world that it is willing to work with Japan and other nations and can be a regional leader.”
Improved ties with its giant neighbour would appeal to Tokyo as well given current trade tensions, Murakami said. Trump on Monday slapped 25 per cent unilateral tariffs on Japan and South Korea, to take effect from August 1.
“It’s not just because of this US administration, but it has reinforced the message that Japan really needs to diversify its trade and economic partners and build resilient supply chains,” she said.
To underline that position, she pointed out that new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung was pushing hard to arrange an official visit to Japan, just a month after he took office.
Japan and the European Union announced in June a major upgrade to their cooperation in the defence sector, while Mitsubishi Corp is preparing to start importing liquefied natural gas from Canada in the coming months, with imports eventually expected to meet about one quarter of total Japanese demand.

Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University, described discussions on the loan of pandas to Japan as another example of recent “softball diplomacy”.
China had appeared willing to give ground, he said, such as by relaxing some of the regulations on imports of Japanese seafood.
Kingston, however, said tongue in cheek that he did not expect Japan to make “major concessions” on the Diaoyu Islands – the disputed archipelago in the East China Sea also known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan – as a result of the pandas. “But the ripples of what is happening in America are travelling around the world.”
China may not even require a reciprocal move from Japan after the pandas are delivered, according to Murakami.
“It is enough for Beijing to show that it is a leader in the region and is willing to work with other countries on trade and in other sectors,” she said. “China is becoming the guardian of this freer trading system, the system that the US used to control.”


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Japan

Panda diplomacy: a boost for China-Japan ties amid US tariff anxiety?

Giant panda Rauhin eats at Adventure World amusement park in Japan’s Wakayama prefecture on June 27. The four pandas that were on loan to the park have now returned to China. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese Vice-Premier He Lifeng is scheduled to attend the World Expo in Osaka on Friday. Photo: Reuters

People bid farewell to giant pandas at Adventure World amusement park in Japan’s Wakayama prefecture on June 28. Photo: Xinhua

Why Japan just tested a missile on its own turf for the first time

A Type-88 missile is test launched from an anti-aircraft firing range in Shinhidaka on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido on June 24. Photo: Japan Ground Self-Defence Force / AFP

Japan’s Defence Minister Gen Nakatani (left) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) after inspecting an honour guard at the Ministry of Defence in Tokyo on June 30. Photo: AFP

A Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force P-3C Orion surveillance plane flies over the Diaoyu Islands, which are known as the Senkakus in Japan. Photo: Kyodo / AP

4 pandas leave Japan for China, leaving only 2 in the country

Giant panda Rauhin  at the Adventure World amusement park in Shirahama, Japan, on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

Giant pandas (clockwise from top) Rauhin, Yuihin, Fuhin and Saihin, at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama prefecture. Photo: Kyodo

Visitors and staff attended a farewell ceremony for four giant pandas on loan to Japan on their last day of public viewing at Adventure World on Friday. Photo: AP

Is Japan facing higher risk of drone warfare over Diaoyu Islands?

A Chinese military drone spotted near the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyakojima in 2023. Photo: Japan’s defence ministry

The Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Photo: Kyodo

TOEIC fraud: Chinese student in Japan charged with cheating on English exams multiple times

Students sit for exams in Japan. The authority that administers the TOEIC exam in the country has reported a suspicious surge in high scores among Chinese test-takers. Photo: Kyodo

Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department headquarters. The suspect reportedly told police that he was approached online to take exams for others. Photo: Handout

Students about to take their exams at the University of Tokyo. Academics say there has been a sharp increase in Chinese attending Japanese universities in the last couple of years. Photo: Kyodo

Students sit for exams at the University of Tokyo. The authority that administers the TOEIC exam in Japan has reported a suspicious surge in high scores among Chinese test-takers. Photo: Kyodo

US, Japan put Philippine railway project back on track after China plans fall through

Containers and cranes at the international Port of Manila on April 3, The proposed railway will be extended all the way to Manila. Photo: AFP

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (right) shakes hands with Philippine Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo at the State Department in Washington on June 9. Photo: AP

Basa Air Force Base, a key one of nine Armed Forces of the Philippines bases, opened to the US military under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement. Photo: Huw Watkins

A Philippine National Railway train bisecting a busy street. The proposed line could transport large volumes of goods efficiently and ease pressure off the roads. Photo: Shutterstock

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Panda loans can be a ‘bargaining chip’ to make bilateral ties stronger and allow China to show it can be a regional leader, analysts say


Panda loans can be a ‘bargaining chip’ to make bilateral ties stronger and allow China to show it can be a regional leader, analysts say.


Panda diplomacy: a boost for China-Japan ties amid US tariff anxiety?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Panda loans can be a ‘bargaining chip’ to make bilateral ties stronger and allow China to show it can be a regional leader, analysts say

Panda loans can be a ‘bargaining chip’ to make bilateral ties stronger and allow China to show it can be a regional leader, analysts say