Tens of millions of Chinese language welcome Ya Ya panda residence after US keep | Politics Information

Big panda Ya Ya, who lived 20 years at a United States zoo, is again in China after an argument over her well being performed out in opposition to the backdrop of a souring relationship between Beijing and Washington.

Ya Ya arrived in Shanghai on Thursday afternoon to a social media storm. Panda lovers who couldn’t make it to the airport launched what they referred to as an internet pick-up for Ya Ya.

“We welcome Ya Ya’s return on-line” had chalked up 340 million reads on the Chinese language messaging platform Sina Weibo by the point her 16-hour flight from Memphis, Tennessee, touched down.

The Sina Weibo hashtag “Ya Ya has landed in Shanghai” had been seen 430 million occasions as of Thursday night.

Ya Ya returned to China on a particular flight a 12 months after studies started circulating that she and Le Le, the Memphis Zoo’s male panda, have been sick.

Le Le’s demise in February and the emergence of images on-line of Ya Ya trying skinny and bony solely added to the considerations amongst panda lovers not solely in China but in addition within the US and elsewhere.

As diplomatic pressure grew between the US and China over points starting from Taiwan to Xinjiang and human rights, some critics accused the US of not taking correct care of the pandas.

However now that Ya Ya is again residence, most are centered merely on seeing her well being restored.

“We have to discover out the actual motive why Ya Ya is sick now,” a Beijing resident who wished to be recognized solely as Ms Shi informed Al Jazeera. “We have to take heed to the specialists. We have to be extra rational on this incident – if somebody made a mistake. Perhaps it’s simply the American zoo didn’t do a superb job. It has nothing to do with the Sino-America relationship. We have to take a look at it rationally.”

China has lengthy operated a programme of “panda diplomacy“, by which the animals are loaned for a restricted time to zoos around the globe as a logo of friendship. Many zoos make investments hundreds of thousands of {dollars} creating panda habitats – in Malaysia’s case, an expansive air-conditioned enclosure – to fulfill the requirements required by Beijing.

Ya Ya, who was born within the Beijing Zoo in 2000, was transferred to the Memphis Zoo underneath a conservation programme in 2003.

The zoo spent $16m to construct a large panda facility with conventional Chinese language cultural parts, arrange a breeding administration and veterinary workforce, and planted about 4 hectares (10 acres) of bamboo forward of Ya Ya’s arrival, in line with a report final month in China’s state-run International Occasions.

The settlement ended this April.

“Ya Ya is returning to China to reside out her golden years,” Memphis Zoo stated in a press release on Fb because the panda left the US. “After 20 years, Ya Ya has grow to be like household, and she or he might be sorely missed by the Memphis Zoo employees and the area people.”

The Chinese language authorities acknowledged the pandas had been effectively sorted within the US.

“Through the big pandas’ keep on the Memphis Zoo, they obtained excellent care from the zoo and nice affection from the American individuals,” Chinese language Ministry of Overseas Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning stated on Wednesday.

Ya Ya started to shed fur in 2006, and her situation worsened in 2014. Consultants on the Memphis Zoo and in China tried varied remedies for the situation however have been unable to resolve the issue, in line with the Chinese language Affiliation of Zoological Gardens.

The organisation stated coronary heart illness had been decided as the reason for Le Le’s demise. His stays have been returned to China on the identical flight with Ya Ya.

Beijing-based China analyst Einar Tangen blamed Western media for manufacturing a Chinese language furore over Ya Ya’s well being.

“She’s grow to be a logo within the Western narrative. They’re saying the Chinese language press is whipping up the Chinese language public and saying it’s state-owned media. That’s not true,” he informed Al Jazeera.

“State media is definitely saying she’s high quality, and we’re simply bringing her again. It actually does go to indicate how far the US and Chinese language individuals have drifted aside in perceptions.”

In response to the International Occasions, China at the moment has 60 big pandas on mortgage to international locations around the globe.

“The panda is a novel animal from China and a nationwide treasure,” Beijing resident Mr Su stated. “I believe it’s a superb factor that individuals from different international locations have an opportunity to know extra about pandas.”

Ya Ya might be in quarantine for 30 days earlier than she is transferred to Beijing Zoo.

With reporting by Jessica Washington in Beijing