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Abstract:
China’s panda diplomacy began in the 1940s during the Second Sino-Japanese War, when a pair was gifted to New York to win the sympathy of the ordinary Americans. After that, pandas were sent out as symbols of improved relations with nations in the Western countries such as Japan and the US during the Cold War era of the 1970s. Under the Xi Jinping administration, they are also being sent to strengthen ties with countries in the Global South. Meanwhile, China’s increasingly assertive diplomacy, fueled by its rise as a major power, has drawn comparisons to a wolf. Amid worsening Japan-China relations, the possibility has emerged that pandas may disappear from Japan next year for the first time in 54 years. A reporter who has traveled to 21 countries and regions around the world to see these pandas explores the power and limitations of China’s diplomacy using pandas, a rare animal that only China possesses, while examining China’s relationship with the world.

Speaker: Ms. Keiko Yoshioka (Columnist and Senior Staff Reporter, The Asahi Shimbun)

Speakers’ Profile:
She is a Columnist and Senior Staff Reporter at The Asahi Shimbun and one of the authors of the Sunday morning column “Nichi-yō ni Omou” (“日曜に想う”). Not only from her Tokyo base but also through her work a correspondent in Beijing and Shanghai, later as a Senior Staff Reporter based in Bangkok, she has been covering China issues for 25 years. She was a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. (2007–08), and a Visiting fellow at Corvinus University of Budapest (2023–24).

Moderator: Yoko Iwama, Professor, GRIPS

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What is GRIPS Forum?
Since its establishment in 1997, the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) has promoted research and education on a wide variety of policy issues. The GRIPS Forum invites specialists from national and local governments as well as academic and business communities to promote policy studies and expand policy networks.