Japan Panda-Less as China Recalls Twins Amid Tensions (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Japan is officially panda-less for the first time in 50 years. The twins, Yaozao and Lele, are heading back to China, and thousands of fans showed up for one final goodbye. The pandas were born in Tokyo in 2021, but they were always meant to return to China, their motherland. China loans pandas as goodwill ambassadors and to help strengthen trade ties. But with Japan-China relations at their lowest point in years, another panda loan now looks unlikely. Tensions have surged over Taiwan, after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan could trigger a Japanese military response. China claims Taiwan as its own and sees that as a red line, hitting back with a wave of economic pressure tactics. So even though the pandas' exit was pre-planned, it feels like another blow. Japan first welcomed pandas in 1972, after ties with China were normalized. It sparked decades of panda fever and a panda economy worth tens of millions of dollars. But now with no new bears in sight, Japan's 50-year era of panda diplomacy is coming to an end.