BEIJING (AFP) — China hopes to send two pandas to Taiwan "soon", the government said Wednesday, as Beijing uses its celebrated "panda diplomacy" on its longtime rival amid a dramatic thaw in relations.
"We hope that through the efforts of the two sides, the two giant pandas can settle in Taiwan soon," Li Weiyi, spokesman for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said in comments posted on the bureau's website.
Li provided no timetable, but a spokesman for Taipei's Mucha Zoo, which was chosen last month to house the endangered animals, has said he hopes the facility will receive them as early as November.
The pair of four-year-old pandas, called "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan", are at a panda research centre in Sichuan province after being evacuated from the famed Wolong breeding base due to heavy damage from the May 12 earthquake.
"Tuanyuan" means "reunion" in Chinese.
The move to bring the pandas to Taiwan is yet another sign of rapidly improving relations between China and the island since the election earlier this year of Beijing-friendly Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou.
Former president Chen Shui-bian, who had regularly infuriated Beijing with his pro-independence rhetoric, had banned the import of Chinese pandas during his tenure.
Beijing first made the panda offer during a historic trip to China in 2005 by Taiwan's then opposition leader, former Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan.
China's Li said both sides were working on relevant import and inspection procedures for getting the animals to Taipei.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war. Beijing considers the self-ruled island to be part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
China, which has used panda diplomacy worldwide since the Cold War, has reportedly made at least three other attempts to give pandas to Taiwan -- none through official channels.
Beijing's pandas usually come with enormous rental fees, which US zoos have recently complained about, but the Chinese have said there would be no charges for Taiwan.
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