During his visit to the Adelaide Zoo on Sunday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced that two “equally beautiful, lively, cute, and younger” pandas would be given to Australia to replace Wang Wang and Fu Ni, who will return to China later this year after calling Adelaide home for 15 years.
The gifting of pandas to other countries has long been a part of Chinese diplomacy. But what exactly is this unique approach to Chinese soft power? Why does it work? And will it profoundly impact Australia-China relations now?
