Chinese pandas arrive in Taiwan
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Two giant pandas have arrived in Taiwan from China, a gift from Beijing to a self-governing island it considers part of Chinese territory, reports BBC.
Together their names (Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan) mean reunion, underscoring hopes that their arrival in Taiwan will spur unity between the two sides. But the gesture is not welcomed by everyone in Taiwan.
The pandas were first offered three years ago, but were rejected by the president at the time.
That decision was reversed after Taiwan's nationalists - the Kuomintang - won the presidency in May.
Since then, diplomatic and economic links have improved. Last week daily passenger flights, new shipping routes and postal links between the two sides were established for the first time in six decades.
Hundreds of security guards and armed police were on watch at Shuangliu airport in Chengdu, Sichuan province, ahead of Tuesday's operation to move the pandas, reports the BBC's Chris Hogg in Beijing.
A 20-strong team of animal experts had been in the region for 10 days to prepare for the bears' relocation - and they took special steamed corn buns, fresh bamboo and even motion sickness pills for the pandas for their trip.
On arrival, they will be quarantined for a month before being taken to their new glass and rock enclosure in Taipei zoo, where they are expected to attract about 30,000 visitors a day.
Despite the publicity surrounding China's gesture, some in Taiwan caution that its significance should not be overstated.
Together their names (Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan) mean reunion, underscoring hopes that their arrival in Taiwan will spur unity between the two sides. But the gesture is not welcomed by everyone in Taiwan.
The pandas were first offered three years ago, but were rejected by the president at the time.
That decision was reversed after Taiwan's nationalists - the Kuomintang - won the presidency in May.
Since then, diplomatic and economic links have improved. Last week daily passenger flights, new shipping routes and postal links between the two sides were established for the first time in six decades.
Hundreds of security guards and armed police were on watch at Shuangliu airport in Chengdu, Sichuan province, ahead of Tuesday's operation to move the pandas, reports the BBC's Chris Hogg in Beijing.
A 20-strong team of animal experts had been in the region for 10 days to prepare for the bears' relocation - and they took special steamed corn buns, fresh bamboo and even motion sickness pills for the pandas for their trip.
On arrival, they will be quarantined for a month before being taken to their new glass and rock enclosure in Taipei zoo, where they are expected to attract about 30,000 visitors a day.
Despite the publicity surrounding China's gesture, some in Taiwan caution that its significance should not be overstated.