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Updated Wednesday, December 24, 2008 9:38 am TWN, The China Post news staff and CNA



	Cargo workers transport cages of pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday. A green-liveried Eva Airways jet carrying the pandas touch down at the airport after the three-hour flight from Chengdu in Sichuan province. More Photos (3)

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Goodwill pandas finally arrive

It is large enough to keep 560 kilograms of bamboo shoots to meet one week’s demand by the animals. The room’s temperature will be maintained between 4 to 7 degrees Celsius, and to satisfy the pandas’ picky appetite, a water spray system was installed to keep the bamboos fresh.

Along with the two Chinese giant pandas, some 30 dove tree seedlings, China’s rare plant species, were also given to Taiwan as a token of peace.

The exotic plants were allowed entry after testing negative to soil residues and infectious insects. The plants will be nurtured in a greenhouse at the Fushan Botanical Garden in northeastern Taiwan’s Yilan County until they are mature enough to be transplanted, after which they will be moved to another location.

Chinese President Hu Jintao first offered the pandas to Taiwan as a gift of friendship in May 2005 when then-opposition Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan made an ice-breaking visit to Beijing.

However, the gift was blocked by political bickering between Beijing and Taipei during Taiwan’s time under the rule of the now-opposition DPP, which objected to China’s treatment of the panda transfer as a “domestic transfer” between zoos because it implies that Taiwan is part of China.

As giant pandas are an endangered species subject to the protection of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITIES), cross-border transfers of the animals must follow strict CITIES guidelines.

According to the guidelines, the two parties must supply export and import permits confirming that all conditions for the transfer have been met. This implies that the transaction is between two countries.

However, the issue was resolved under the governance of the administration of President Ma, which favors improving ties with China. Both sides decided to sidestep the issue of country name by agreeing to identify the importer as “Taiwan Taipei” and accepting “Chengdu” as the origin of export.

During a landmark visit to Taiwan in November by top Chinese negotiator on Taiwan affairs, Chen Yunlin, the two sides signed a formal agreement on exchanges of indigenous rare fauna and flora species to symbolize their amity and determination to cooperate in wildlife conservation.

The pandas’ arrival are the latest steps by the two sides to improve relations. On Dec. 15, direct daily flights, direct shipping and direct postal links across the Taiwan Strait were launched and over the weekend, China’s banks pledged to give US$19 billion in loans to Taiwanese businesses in China to help them cope with the economic downturn.

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