Advertisement
Taiwan invites experts from mainland China to visit dying panda Tuan Tuan
- Taipei Zoo’s 18-year-old male panda, once a symbol of warmer cross-strait ties, enters palliative care after suffering seizures
- Veterinary specialists expected to observe health checks during seven-day stay on the island
Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
4
Veterinary experts from mainland China have been invited to Taiwan, zoo officials said on Friday, for a rare visit between the two sides after a male panda that symbolised an era of warmer ties was moved into end-of-life care.
Advertisement
Relations between mainland China and Taiwan have been on ice since 2016, with Beijing severing official communications and government visits between the two sides scrapped.
But Taiwan made an exception after Tuan Tuan, a male panda that was gifted to the island by Beijing in 2008, fell ill in recent weeks and appeared to be entering his twilight days.
Taipei Zoo said the vets would stay for seven days and observe, rather than conduct, health checks.
“The main purpose is to visit Tuan Tuan and see his present condition,” Taipei Zoo animal section chief Eve Wang said.
“They expressed their desire to come in person to visit Tuan Tuan. I also think it will be a very meaningful trip.”
Advertisement
It is not clear when the vets will arrive but Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said on Wednesday they were processing their visa applications.
01:37
Giant panda Yuan Yuan gives birth to a second daughter in Taiwan
Giant panda Yuan Yuan gives birth to a second daughter in Taiwan
Advertisement