A pair of pandas donated by China to Taiwan made their debut at Taipei City Zoo following an opening event by Taiwanese President Ma Ying Jiu on January 24th.
The pandas, named Tuan-Tuan and Yuan-Yuan (Tuan-Yuan means Reunion in Chinese), arrived in Taiwan in late December 2008 and underwent a month long quarantine before being officially introduced to the public. A group of 500 orphans and underprivileged kids were the first group of visitors.
The panda diplomacy is seen as a huge leap of relationship between the two political entities. China first suggested the donation in 2005 but was rejected by Taiwan’s leadership back then, but the idea was embraced in 2008 with the change of Taiwanese presidency.
i heard on the news that a group of taiwanese (don’t remember who) wanted the pandas to change their names. i guess they’re the people who are really reluctant to taiwan reuniting with china. when i heard about it, i thought that it was quite disrespectful. they should just appreciate this pair of precious gift. it’s a bad idea to make matters worse between china and taiwan.
It’s obvious that China is sending a message with the names, which the current Taiwanese leadership is buying into… it’s a tough thing to swallow for those who have fight all these years for Taiwan’s independence.
Personally, I think Taiwanese need to lighten up a little. I meet more and more Taiwanese lately that just seem to want to harp on the differences with them and China ALL the time. Especially with the kou yin differences and simplified vs Traditional characters etc. It gets tiring. Many of the Chinese and Taiwanese are now living in the states and they still have hard feelings. I understand why they feel that way but they need to try and leave that stuff behind when they move to the states because they are in the same country now and it doesn’t matter when they both live in the US.
It’s good that this new Prez is a forward thinker. It’s the only way to go. Taiwan is not going to be independent without there being trouble and neither China nor Taiwan needs that. They need to continue to take steps to improve relations. I know older Taiwanese refuse to do that because of history but the Younger people need to move away from those views gradually.
its a never ending love hate relationship between china and taiwan.