中国向美国亚特兰大动物园赠送的两只大熊猫"平平"和"福双"于9月27日从成都启程赴美12。这两只大熊猫均出生于2020年，其中平平为雄性，福双为雌性23。此举被列入习近平与特朗普华盛顿峰会的成果共识，中美双方派遣兽医和饲养员陪同照顾2。根据协议，两国将在亚特兰大动物园开展为期10年的保护合作23。
然而，美国媒体指出中国的大熊猫外交对美国的影响力已不如往昔1。大熊猫外交始于1972年尼克森访华后，中国从1980年代开始向外国动物园出借大熊猫，每年收费高达100万美元1。但如今这一外交工具的效果已大幅减弱。新加坡国立大学副教授莊嘉穎表示，大熊猫外交曾展现"友好、温和可爱的中国形象"，但随着美国民众对中国了解加深，中国的技术进步、经济实力和军事扩张被视为日益上升的威胁，使得美中关系变得复杂得多，"效果就未必有那么大"1。
近年来美国饲养的大熊猫频现问题。2023年美国田纳西州孟菲斯动物园的大熊猫"乐乐"因心脏病死亡，"丫丫"出现脱毛现象1。此后2024年4只大熊猫分别被送往圣地牙哥动物园及华盛顿国家动物园1。根据中国与外国动物园的约定，大熊猫的后代均属于中国，最终都要送回中国1。
Two giant pandas departed for the United States in late September following an agreement reached during Xi Jinping and Donald Trump's Washington summit.23 The pair—Ping Ping, a male born in March 2020, and Fu Shuang, a female born in October 2020—embarked on a chartered flight from Chengdu in the early morning hours, bound for a ten-year conservation partnership at the Atlanta Zoo.23 Chinese veterinarians and caretakers accompanied the animals during transport.2
Despite this high-profile gesture, American media commentators argue that Beijing's traditional panda diplomacy no longer carries the diplomatic weight it once did.1 The initiative, which began after President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China, has historically served as a cornerstone of Chinese soft power, with Beijing charging foreign zoos up to one million dollars annually for panda loans since the 1980s.1 However, as American understanding of China has deepened in recent years, Chinese technological advances, economic strength, and military expansion have increasingly been perceived as growing threats rather than causes for goodwill.1 A deputy professor at the National University of Singapore observed that while pandas once conveyed "a friendly, gentle, and endearing image of China," the current complexity of U.S.-China relations has substantially diminished the diplomatic effect of such gestures.1
Recent panda loans to American institutions have been marked by setbacks.1 In 2023, a giant panda named Le Le at the Memphis Zoo in Tennessee died of heart disease, while another panda, Ya Ya, experienced hair loss.1 Four additional pandas were subsequently sent to the San Diego Zoo and the National Zoo in Washington in 2024.1 According to agreements between China and foreign zoos, any offspring produced by loaned pandas remain Chinese property and must eventually be returned to China.1
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