Shanghai’s gift of red pandas to the Taipei Zoo kicks off political storm
Shanghai’s gift of red pandas to the Taipei Zoo kicks off political storm
2026-06-05
The Twin-City Forum held by Shanghai and Taipei last September involved the two cities signing an MOU for animal exchanges and cooperation. In practice, this meant the two cities agreed to exchange rare animals that are listed as “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Taiwanese politicians are enraged – but not about whether these animals are better off in the wild or whether Taiwanese and Chinese zoos will ensure these species’ longevity. Instead, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an is pointing to China’s gift of red pandas to claim the cross-strait forum was a success, while DPP politicians are saying the beasts are Chinese tools that will encourage unification. Let’s find out more.
These two adorable little red pandas strolling leisurely around on the grass are gifts from Shanghai that will arrive in Taiwan on Saturday. The Taipei City Government is promoting them extensively, calling them an outcome of Twin-City Forum exchanges.
Puma Shen
Taipei mayoral candidate (DPP)
The so-called Twin-City Forum is the bottom of the barrel, not the top of the heap. We can actually communicate with countries all over the world. We had red panda exchanges with Japan in exactly the same way. This doesn’t seem like something that can be exclusively achieved through the Twin-City Forum. There’s no need for political preconditions for such exchanges.
Chiang Wan-an
Taipei Mayor
Providing more genetic diversity and life education is very meaningful for our children.
The two red pandas arriving at the Taipei Zoo are from the Shanghai Zoo. This "animal exchange" at the Twin-City Forum involves Taipei sending rare white-handed gibbons to China. The Chiang administration is proud of this, but the pro-independence camp is lambasting the animal exchanges as a tool for unification. They argue that as early as March this year, Taiwan imported a female red panda called “Sensen” from Asahiyama Zoo in Japan, but the Taipei City Government did not greet this with high profile celebrations.
Lin Yen-feng
Taipei City Councilor (DPP)
The red pandas from China are considered treasures, while the red pandas from Japan are just weeds. And the key point is that Mayor Chiang Wan-an himself had to come out and say personally: this is the result of Twin-City Forum exchanges. Didn’t China also send giant pandas to Japan in the past, only to turn sour on a dime, with China then demanding: “Return them to me, I’m not letting you keep them anymore?”
The red pandas from China will undergo a month-long quarantine once they arrive in Taiwan and are expected to meet the public in early July. For the moment, the creatures are a point of contention between the KMT and DPP.
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上海小貓熊將抵台 沈伯洋:不需以政治為前提交流
2026-06-05
台北上海雙城論壇，簽訂動物交流合作備忘錄，預計本周六，兩隻來自上海的小貓熊，就會抵達台灣，台北市長蔣萬安，高調宣揚這是"雙城論壇"的具體成效，不過綠營砲轟，淪為統戰工具、隨時都可能被收回，民進黨台北市長參選人沈伯洋更酸，台灣早就從日本引進小貓熊，根本不是只靠雙城論壇才能達成。
悠哉在草皮上來回走動，萌翻眾人的這兩隻小貓熊，就是周六將要抵台的交換禮物，台北市府高調宣傳，稱是雙城論壇的交流成果。
[[台北市長參選人(民) 沈伯洋]]
“所謂的雙城論壇，它應該是地板，它不是天花板，我們跟世界各國其實都可以交流啊，我們跟日本一樣，也有小貓熊在交流，但看起來不是什麼用雙城論壇來達成嘛，不需要以政治前提，作為這樣的一個交流”
[[台北市長 蔣萬安]]
“能夠讓基因多樣性以及提供更多的生命教育，對於我們孩子是非常具有意義的”
即將來到台北市立動物園的兩隻小貓熊，來自上海動物園，這場雙城論壇"交換動物"，台北市將送出白手長臂猿，蔣市府引以為傲，但綠營砲轟淪為統戰工具，因為早在今年3月，我國早已從日本旭山動物園，引進雌性小貓熊「茜茜」，卻不見市府高調慶祝。
[[台北市議員(民) 林延鳳]]
“從中國來的小貓熊是寶，從日本來的小貓熊是草，而且重點，還要蔣萬安市長自己親自出來講喔，說這個是雙城論壇交流的結果，過去中國不是也送了大熊貓過去日本，一句話翻臉，中國就說，你給我送回來，我不要給你了”
來自中國的小貓熊，抵台後將進行為期一個月的檢疫，預計七月上旬和民眾正式見面，如今也成為藍綠攻防焦點。
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