(CN) Historic animal transfer : Chinese Giant Pandas leave for Taiwan

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*Song and dance as China pandas take off for Taiwan*

*43 mins ago*

*[image: Tuan Tuan, one of two pandas selected as a gift for Taiwan, is

put into a cage]

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*Reuters – Tuan Tuan, one of two pandas selected as a gift for Taiwan, is put

into a cage as it leaves a giant panda … *

 

*CHENGDU, China (Reuters) – A pair of giant pandas took off from China's

fog-shrouded mountains of Sichuan province for Taiwan amid Tibetan song and

dance on Tuesday, in the latest sign of improving ties between the political

rivals.*

 

*Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names said together mean " unite, " were

carried aboard a jumbo jet in the provincial capital, Chengdu, in two

separate crates, with accompanying baggage of steamed corn buns and

fresh bamboo

shoots.*

 

* " The pandas take 1.3 billion of mainland people's blessing to Taiwan and

will sow the seeds of peace, unity and fraternal love there, " Zheng Lizhong,

deputy chief of the Taiwan Affairs Office, said at the farewell ceremony.*

 

*Beijing has given pandas to nine countries, including Japan, North Korea,

the United States and the former Soviet Union, since 1957.*

 

*China has claimed self-ruled Taiwan since the end of the Chinese

civil warin 1949. It has vowed to bring the island under mainland

rule, by force if

necessary, but ties have improved vastly since this year's election of

China-friendly Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou.*

 

*China had offered the pandas as a goodwill gift in 2006 as part of a charm

offensive after decades of saber rattling. Taiwan's then anti-China

president declined the gift.*

 

*Pandas can only be found in the wild in China where they are rebounding

from the brink of extinction, but not yet out of the woods -- in large part

because of difficulties in producing cubs.*

 

*The Taiwan zoo which will be their new home will try to mate the pair and

may return any cub for tender loving care back in China, a zoo official said

last month.*

 

*Last week, Taiwan and China launched direct daily passenger flights,

new shipping

routes and postal links for the first time in six decades. China has also

offered Taiwan investors on the mainland $19 billion in financing over the

next three years amid the global economic downturn.*

 

*But many Taiwan citizens would prefer China remove missiles aimed at the

island and let it join international organizations such as the United

Nations instead of offering money or animals, experts say.*

 

*The 4-year-old pandas have been living at a breeding base in Sichuan,

neighboring Tibet, for several months. Their previous home, the Wolong

Nature Reserve, was damaged in the earthquake that struck Sichuan on May 12,

killing more than 80,000 people.*

 

*Along with the pandas, China is sending 17 Chinese dove trees, symbolizing

the 170,000 Qiang minority people of the Sichuan quake zone.*

 

*(Writing by Nick Macfie and Yu Le; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)*