Mainland to send Pandas to Taiwan in December
12/11/2008 17:02
Taiwan is preparing to receive a pair of pandas donated by the Chinese
mainland.
State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Fan Liqing said
today, the pandas would arrive on the island next month.
Relevant departments
on both sides were busy working on issues including transportation, equipment
and personnel training.
The zoo said it was ready to receive the pandas,
which were likely to meet the public sometime around the Spring Festival. First
though, they have a one-month quarantine. The Spring Festival falls on Jan. 26,
2009.
The mainland announced it would donate pandas to Taiwan to demonstrate
its goodwill in May 2005, but the animal's departure has been delayed for more
than three years because of political reasons.
Earlier this month, Chen
Yunlin, president of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan
Strait (ARATS) announced, during a Taiwan visit, that the panda pair, Tuan Tuan
and Yuan Yuan would soon arrive on the island and be housed at the Taipei Mucha
Zoo. Their names, meaning "reunion," were chosen by the mainland public through
mobile phone text messages.
The 4-year-old pandas, one of China's most
endangered animal species, are at a panda breeding base in Ya'an, southwestern
Sichuan Province.
They were transferred to the base on June 18 from the
Wolong Nature Reserve, also in Sichuan, which was seriously damaged in the May
12 earthquake.
"The giant panda is a treasure of the Chinese nation and it is
a symbol of peace and auspiciousness," Chen had said. "It is the sincere wish of
the mainland compatriots that the giant panda could live and breed on the
island."
On behalf of mainland compatriots, Chen accepted two rare animals
from Taiwan during the visit. One is an indigenous goat with the scientific name
of naemorhedus swinhoei, the other is a spotted deer.
The spokeswoman said
the mainland and Taiwan were in contact for further details about the donation
of these two animals.
Xinhua
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