June 18, 2024 3:04 PM

What is China’s panda diplomacy and how does it work?

During a visit to Australia this week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang made a classic goodwill gesture that boded well for relations between the two countries: he offered to send pandas. The offer comes as ties between Australia and its largest trading partner improve after a diplomatic dispute that lead to China imposing a raft of restrictions on Australian agricultural and mineral exports in 2020. Native to China, pandas have through the years become "envoys of friendship", earning China's outreach...