Japan bids farewell to its last twin giant pandas as they return to China: 'Pure diplomatic extortion'

Giant panda Xiao Xiao eats bamboo on his final public viewing day at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo. (Image credit: AP)

• Japan bids farewell to last twin pandas Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei returning to China
• 108,000 applied for 4,400 tickets to see pandas' last day at Ueno Zoo
• Japan to have no pandas for first time in 50 years amid strained China relations

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Ueno Zoo in Tokyo saw a large gathering on Sunday to bid goodbye to Japan’s last two giant twin pandas -- Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei before their return to China this week.

Nearly 108,000 people applied for only 4,400 lottery-assigned tickets on the last day, as emotional visitors waved farewell to the pandas.

Even with a one-minute viewing limit set by the zoo, visitors carrying panda toys called out to the bears and recorded them on smartphones as they nibbled bamboo and walked about.

Following their departure on Tuesday, for the first time in 50 years, the country will have no pandas, with little chance of getting new Pandas because of their deteriorating relationship with Beijing, particularly since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island Beijing claims as its own, could bring about a Japanese military response.

"I know giant pandas are loved by many in Japan, and we welcome Japanese friends to come visit them in China," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said about China sending new pandas to Japan.

In 1972, China first gifted pandas to Japan to mark the normalisation of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

Japan later received more pandas from China, with several born in the country, becoming among the country’s most popular zoo attractions.

According to CNN, under the “panda diplomacy” policy, pandas born in Japan remain under Chinese ownership.

Giant pandas are treated as national symbols in China, and they send them to other countries to build closer ties.

The panda news quickly went viral, as people across social media expressed their emotions.

One x user wrote, “Great news. Pandas are a scam. The Chinese govt charges $1 million for pandas; they even charge money for pandas born in other countries. No other country charges money for their animals. A scam!”

Another user commented, “Pandas are cute, but they have become a sugar-coated bullet used by the CCP's tyrannical regime to infiltrate the world.”

A third user said, “China strong-arming Japan into returning "their" pandas pure diplomatic extortion. Cute bears as political pawns while Japan bends over. Pathetic global weakness exposed.’