Animal Diplomacy Between China and Taiwan

Back in the 1970s, the United States and China exchanged ping pong players that marked a thaw in Sino-U.S. relations and paved the way to a visit to Beijing by President Richard Nixon.

Today, a similar strategy is being deployed by China and Taiwan in the form of exchanging endangered species.

Beijing offered Taiwan two giant pandas during former Kuomintang (KMT) chairman Lien Chan's trip to China in 2005; however, the former leader of Taiwan rejected the gifts because China considered the offer a "domestic transfer" between zoos. After Ma Ying-jeou took over, the two pandas were quickly accepted and are now living in the Taipei City Zoo.

In return, Taiwan has offered to give Beijing a pair of Formosan sika deer and a pair of Formosan serow. Today, the rare deer and goat duos have been officially accepted by China and will be kept in Weihai Forest Park of Shandong.

The endangered species diplomacy seems to be helping because on Tuesday, China and Taiwan signed three agreements during their latest trade talks. The agreements, on industrial standards, food quarantine, and fishery cooperation, were sealed during the fourth meeting between China's and Taiwan's top cross-strait negotiators since Taiwan's mainland-friendly KMT returned to power in May 2008.

Ping pong diplomacy was a success and paved the way for normalization of relationship between China and the U.S.; will the same strategy work between China and Taiwan in the long run?