Panda Diplomacy: The departure of DC’s beloved pandas may signal a wider Chinese pullback

By ASHRAF KHALIL and DIDI TANG
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Zoo’s three giant pandas are set to return to China in early December with no public signs that the 50-year old exchange agreement struck by former President Richard Nixon will continue. With diplomatic tensions between Beijing and a number of western governments, China appears to be gradually pulling back its pandas from western zoos as their agreements expire. The departure of the bears from the nation’s capital would mean that the only giant pandas left in America are at the Atlanta Zoo — and that agreement expires next year.