China pandas eat breakfast before flight to Taiwan
1:00 AM
Posted: Tuesday, December 23, 2008
CHENGDU, China (AP) -- A pair of pandas in China set off Tuesday on their long-awaited goodwill journey to their new home in Taiwan after a breakfast of carrots and steamed corn buns and a teary farewell from their keeper, state media reported.
Four-year-old "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan" left their breeding base in Ya'an in southwest China's Sichuan province in the morning to make their way to the airport in the provincial capital of Chengdu, 75 miles (120 kilometers) away, after a brief send-off ceremony, Xinhua News Agency said.
"I wish them a happy life in Taiwan," Xinhua quoted tearful Ya'an panda keeper Qu Chunmao as saying.
Beijing first offered the pandas to Taiwan in 2005 hoping they would strengthen Taiwanese public support for reuniting with the mainland, an offer rejected by the island's former leaders who supported independence for the self-governed island. Current Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has tried to nurture closer ties with the mainland and accepted the pandas as a goodwill gesture.
Roads will be blocked when the pandas travel through southwest China to the Chengdu airport in a convoy, China's state television CCTV earlier reported. An Eva Air jet from Taiwan will leave Chengdu in the afternoon with the pandas.
More than 500 security guards and armed police were keeping watch at the airport. The tight security underscores enduring political tension between China and rival Taiwan, with the self-ruled island's opposition warning that the pandas may be a communist propaganda ploy.
Xinhua quoted a panda keeper from Taiwan who would accompany the pair to the island as saying the pandas were in good condition.
"They had a good breakfast to sustain them on the long journey," she said in the report.
When linked, "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan" mean "reunion" in Chinese.
Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, and China has repeatedly warned that any Taiwanese moves to formalize its de facto independence could be met with war.
A veterinarian and panda keeper will travel with the animals, packing motion sickness pills as well as more than 1,700 pounds (800 kilograms) of bamboo in case they don't like the food at the sprawling hillside Taipei Zoo.
A two-story-high glass and rock house will serve as the animals' new home. After a monthlong quarantine the exhibit will be open for public viewing around the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 26.
The giant panda is unique to China and serves as an unofficial national mascot, giving such gifts political overtones. China regularly sends the animals abroad as a sign of warm diplomatic relations or to mark breakthroughs in ties.
Cheng Wen-tsang, spokesman for Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party, has said China's ultimate goal is to win Taiwanese political support, and that the pandas "will not cover up China's military threat against us."
Four-year-old "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan" left their breeding base in Ya'an in southwest China's Sichuan province in the morning to make their way to the airport in the provincial capital of Chengdu, 75 miles (120 kilometers) away, after a brief send-off ceremony, Xinhua News Agency said.
"I wish them a happy life in Taiwan," Xinhua quoted tearful Ya'an panda keeper Qu Chunmao as saying.
Beijing first offered the pandas to Taiwan in 2005 hoping they would strengthen Taiwanese public support for reuniting with the mainland, an offer rejected by the island's former leaders who supported independence for the self-governed island. Current Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has tried to nurture closer ties with the mainland and accepted the pandas as a goodwill gesture.
Roads will be blocked when the pandas travel through southwest China to the Chengdu airport in a convoy, China's state television CCTV earlier reported. An Eva Air jet from Taiwan will leave Chengdu in the afternoon with the pandas.
More than 500 security guards and armed police were keeping watch at the airport. The tight security underscores enduring political tension between China and rival Taiwan, with the self-ruled island's opposition warning that the pandas may be a communist propaganda ploy.
Xinhua quoted a panda keeper from Taiwan who would accompany the pair to the island as saying the pandas were in good condition.
"They had a good breakfast to sustain them on the long journey," she said in the report.
When linked, "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan" mean "reunion" in Chinese.
Taiwan and China split amid civil war in 1949, and China has repeatedly warned that any Taiwanese moves to formalize its de facto independence could be met with war.
A veterinarian and panda keeper will travel with the animals, packing motion sickness pills as well as more than 1,700 pounds (800 kilograms) of bamboo in case they don't like the food at the sprawling hillside Taipei Zoo.
A two-story-high glass and rock house will serve as the animals' new home. After a monthlong quarantine the exhibit will be open for public viewing around the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 26.
The giant panda is unique to China and serves as an unofficial national mascot, giving such gifts political overtones. China regularly sends the animals abroad as a sign of warm diplomatic relations or to mark breakthroughs in ties.
Cheng Wen-tsang, spokesman for Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party, has said China's ultimate goal is to win Taiwanese political support, and that the pandas "will not cover up China's military threat against us."
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