When Ya Ya, a giant panda from China, landed in the United States in 2003, several hundred spectators at the Memphis International Airport broke into cheers to welcome the fluffy goodwill ambassador from Beijing.
The moment encapsulated a high-point in US-China relations, coming two years after China joined the World Trade Organization with American support, and as the two countries deepened engagement in areas ranging from the economy to counter-terroris
Two decades later, as Ya Ya bid farewell to the US and boarded a plane heading back to China on Wednesday, she has become a symbol of deteriorating relations between the world’s two superpowers, which have fallen to their lowest point in half a centur
She landed in Shanghai Thursday after a 16-hour flight, carried home by a special FedEx “panda express” plane, Chinese state media reporte
For nearly three months, heated discussions in China about the treatment of Ya Ya by the Memphis Zoo have served to highlight just how antagonistic the US-China relationship has becom
Unlike the chubby, fluffy image of her younger self, 22-year-old Ya Ya has appeared skinny in recent photos, with her black and white coat missing clumps of fure.d.y.m.ps of fur.
Many in China have been shocked and saddened by her condition. Some believed she had not been given proper care and attention – an accusation first levied by animal advocates in 2021 but denied repeatedly by the Memphis Zoo.
Ya Ya and her male companion, Le Le, were due to return to China this year after the end of a 20-year loan. But Le Le died suddenly of heart disease in early February, further fueling suspicions of mistreatment.
As part of China’s “panda diplomacy,” these bears are meant to serve as an envoy of friendship between China and their host country. But for Chinese nationalists, Ya Ya has become a glaring symbol of what they see as America’s bullying and suppression of China.
“Treating our national treasure with such an attitude is an outright provocation of China,” said a comment on Weibo, China’s heavily censored Twitter-like platform.
Meanwhile, videos of two playful, energetic pandas at the Moscow Zoo went viral on Chinese social media, drawing effusive praise for Russia for its care of the Chinese bears.
The apparent contrast between the pandas in the US and Russia was seized on by Chinese state media, which has taken on a pro-Russian stance since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and regularly fanned anti-US sentiment.
Determined to rescue Ya Ya from her perceived ordeal, Chinese internet users rallied to bring the panda home as soon as possible.
Some joined an online petition calling for her immediate return, others followed her every move on the zoo’s panda cams livestreams. Chinese people living in the US also took turns to visit her and shared updates on her condition – some flying in from as far as Los Angeles.
Throughout the past weeks, Ya Ya regularly appeared as a top trending topic on Weibo, each time attracting hundreds of millions of views. Photos of her were placed on advertising billboards from New York to Shanghai, along with the message:”Ya Ya, we’re waiting for you to come home.”
Like her arrival in the US, her return to China is laden with symbolism – this time not of growing friendship, but of mounting animosity and distrust.
Diplomatic tool
For eight decades, pandas have served as a something of a barometer of China’s international relations. Beijing has used the bears as a political tool since 1941, when it gifted a pair of cubs to Washington as gratitude for American assistance in fighting the Japanese invasion.
After the Communist Party took power, panda exchanges were initially limited to China’s socialist allies – North Korea and the Soviet Union. But as Beijing began to reconnect with the world, the bears became goodwill ambassadors to the West as well.
During US President Richard Nixon’s historic ice-breaking trip to China in 1972, his wife visited the Beijing zoo and was reportedly charmed by its giant pandas. Weeks later, a pair of pandas arrived at the National Zoo in Washington DCMeanwhile, backlash against the Memphis Zoo continued, with many calling for the zoo to be blacklisted from future panda loans. Others demanded all pandas in the US to be sent home.
Some even called for an end to “panda diplomacy” all together, comparing the overseas pandas to the ancient Chinese princesses married off by the emperor as a peace offering to the country’s enemies. China used its pandas as a diplomatic tool when it was weak; now, as a global superpower, it no longer needs to send its national treasures to other countries, they argued.
As Ya Ya makes her way back to China, Chinese officials also appeared to attempt to tamp down the domestic public anger that had become so ubiquitous in recent months on the country’s heavily censored internet.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday Ya Ya and Le Le had been “well taken care of” by the Memphis Zoo and “loved by the American people.”
“China is willing to continue to work with other partners, including the US, to contribute to the conservation of endangered species,” said spokesperson Mao Ning.
At the Beijing Zoo, where Ya Ya was born and will spend the rest of her life, visitors packed its panda house in anticipation of the bear’s return.
On a recent Tuesday, multiple visitors at the zoo told CNN they were glad Ya Ya is coming home.
“I’ve heard that the US is treating the panda poorly,” said an 11-year-old child. His mother added: “The panda returning to the motherland is something the whole nation has been looking forward to. We feel happy and excited.”
An elderly man with a baby stroller said China should be more selective in giving pandas away an “exchange of friendship.”
“Why would we want to send them to unfriendly countries?” he asked. “(Pandas in Russia) are very happy. Why? Russians and Chinese are friends. At least Russia is not sanctioning China.”
An earlier version of this story misgendered Xie Zhong.
CNN’s Mayumi Maruyama contributed to this report.
