日本将很快变成零只大熊猫：上野动物园于2021年出生的双胞胎「晓晓」与「蕾蕾」将在租借到期后于1月下旬返还中国；此前牠们的父母于2011年来日、并在2024年回国。东京都在12月15日宣布交还安排。由于向外借作繁殖研究的亲代所生幼崽仍属中国资产，这次离开将结束日本逾半世纪的熊猫历史，且发生在高市早苗首相11月7日就台湾事态发言引发的新摩擦之际。
「熊猫外交」早于共产党政权。1936年一名美国人在四川捕获一只熊猫幼崽并带回美国后，国民党（KMT）看准其在美国的人气加以运用。1941年，蒋介石之妻宋美龄在重庆举行仪式，向美国赠送两只熊猫；1943年她更赴美在国会演说，以在对日战争中争取美国舆论。1949年中华人民共和国成立；其后中国于1972年向日本赠送「康康」与「兰兰」。
如今熊猫多以付费租借形式运作，甚至以象征性替代品登场。2011年3月日本遭遇估计9.0级地震、最高或达40公尺的海啸与福岛核灾熔毁后，温家宝总理于5月到访并发放熊猫玩偶，促使仙台推动租借。该计划在2012年9月因尖阁/钓鱼台争端引发的紧张而受阻，13年后仍未取得任何熊猫。与此同时，习近平于10月30日与川普会面，双方规划在4月与2026年下半年互访；美国如今有4只租借熊猫，法国在11月送回一对后，预计于2027年再迎来2只。
Japan will soon have zero giant pandas: Ueno Zoo’s 2021-born twins Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei are scheduled to return to China in late January after a lease expiring, following their parents’ 2011 arrival and 2024 return. Tokyo announced the handover on Dec. 15. Because cubs born to loaned breeders remain China’s property, the departure ends more than half a century of pandas in Japan, arriving amid new friction after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Nov. 7 Taiwan-contingency remarks.
Panda diplomacy predates the Communist Party. After an American captured a panda cub in Sichuan in 1936 and brought it to the U.S., the Nationalist KMT sought to harness the animal’s popularity. In 1941, Chiang Kai-shek’s wife Soong Mei-ling ceremonially gifted two pandas to Americans, and in 1943 she addressed the U.S. Congress to bolster support in China’s war with Japan. The PRC was founded in 1949; China later gifted Japan Kang Kang and Lan Lan in 1972.
Today, pandas function mainly through paid leases and even symbolic substitutes. After Japan’s March 2011 disaster—an estimated 9.0 quake, tsunami waves up to 40 meters, and Fukushima meltdowns—Premier Wen Jiabao visited in May and handed out stuffed panda dolls, prompting Sendai to pursue a lease. That effort stalled after September 2012 Senkaku/Diaoyu tensions and, 13 years later, has yielded none. Meanwhile Xi met Trump on Oct. 30, with visits planned for April and late 2026; the U.S. now hosts four loaned pandas, and France, after returning a pair in November, is set to receive two in 2027.