SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Pandas are more than just adorable.
Dr. Lilly Cheng, the director of the Chinese Cultural Center at San Diego State University, said they are a symbol of diplomacy.
“In 1972, President Nixon went to China, and during that trip, [the] panda was introduced to him as a national treasure of China, but also… a major gesture of friendship from China to the United States,” Cheng said.
Cheng said shortly after, a pair of pandas were given to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., as the beginning of the panda diplomacy.
Decades later, that collaboration exists today.
Watch ABC 10News morning anchor Melissa Mecija’s interview in the video below.
How the pandas have impacted the US-China relationship
