12/05/2023
The familiar black-and-white face of the giant panda stares at you through the camera lens, looking simultaneously thoughtful and pleading. Then it rolls over on its back, clutching a stalk of bamboo, seemingly at peace with everything all at once. In a world filled with conflict, people appear to agree that the giant panda is the undisputed global cuteness champion. But that fluffy, round face is also the face of China’s soft power, and the news that all pandas will be gone from the US by the end of 2024 has left many with questions about how these gentle giants first came to the US—and how that cherubic face came to symbolize so much about diplomacy, environmentalism, and relations between the world’s two largest economies.
We caught up with SIS professor Judith Shapiro, director of graduate studies for SIS’s Department of Environment, Development & Health, to ask her some panda questions. Shapiro is the author of China’s Environmental Challenges and co-author of China Goes Green.
Read more of this great conversation between Judy Shapiro and Kay Summer here: https://www.american.edu/sis/news/20231127-goodbye-or-just-goodbye-for-now-pandas-soft-power-and-us-china-relations.cfm
