As China and Japan cross swords in first security talks in four years, the panda prevails

Visitors watching female giant panda Xiang Xiang ahead of her return to China, at the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, on Feb 19, 2023. - AFP

TOKYO (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): Japan and China are often at loggerheads over ideology and allegiances, with their leaders wont to giving each other the cold shoulder – but the cuddly panda has transcended the animosity.

Japan bade a teary farewell to four pandas flown to China this week upon the end of a loan agreement, just as the two countries held their first security dialogue since February 2019 on Wednesday (Feb 22.