During the tense relations between China and Japan, Japanese media is concerned that the era of 'no pandas' in Japan may continue.
On January 27th of this year, the only two remaining giant pandas in Japan, “Xiaoxiao” and “Leilei”, set off for China. Half a year later, on July 27th, the Japanese newspaper Kyodo News reported that due to the impact of Japan-China relations, Japan’s state of having no giant pandas will be difficult to resolve, and the efforts by local governments in Japan to introduce giant pandas have also become sluggish.
On July 28, Japan's Yomiuri Newspaper also reported that due to the deteriorating relations between Japan and China, the prospects for Japan to lease giant pandas from China once again remain uncertain. Against this background, the tourism project 'Giant Panda Tour', which involves visiting giant pandas overseas, has attracted a lot of attention.
According to Kyodo News, Sendai City, which has been actively promoting the introduction of giant pandas, is considering various options including giving up the idea.
In March this year, when referring to the severe situation in Japan-China relations, Saitama Mayor Katsumi Nikaido also emphasized that "giant pandas are particularly popular among children. The introduction of giant pandas has been promoted as part of the post-disaster reconstruction efforts following the Great East Japan Earthquake."
It is reported that due to the slow progress in introducing certain activities, the financial support provided by a certain entertainment agency to Sendai City also came to an end in February. Sendai City will establish a new government internal liaison meeting to address related issues.
"Including the possibility of negation, he hopes to reach a conclusion", suggesting that the option of giving up on bringing in this is not excluded.
In November last year, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihida Kazuo openly made provocative statements in the parliament, claiming that "a situation where Taiwan is involved in a crisis could pose a survival-threatening threat to Japan," implying a military intervention in the Taiwan issue. These remarks severely impacted Sino-Japanese relations.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently stated that the current severe difficulties in Sino-Japanese relations stem from the wrong remarks made by Kaisei Yukino regarding Taiwan. The responsibility lies entirely with Japan. True exchanges and dialogue should be based on respect for each other and adherence to common understandings.
