On Chinese social networks, false accusations of mistreatment of pandas in American zoos are increasing.
In recent months, accusations of mistreatment of pandas in American zoos have invaded Chinese social networks. These fake news, amplified by influencers according to specialists, taint Beijing’s “panda diplomacy”.
A symbol of alliance, this political technique, used for decades by the Chinese government, consists of offering these animals to other countries as a sign of friendship.
China plagued by disinformation
A viral video circulating on several Chinese platforms such as Weibo and Douyin relayed the thesis according to which the female panda Mei Xiang was mistreated by the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington, victim of dozens of painful artificial inseminations. A passionate campaign ensued for her to be “rescued” and returned to China.
The American zoo did not wish to comment on this campaign, but according to AFP fact-checking journalists, the video actually dating from 2015 actually shows a male panda undergoing a health check and a sample in Singapore.
On these same Chinese platforms, an image also claims to show Mei Xiang’s companion, Tian Tian, sedated and immobilized during an examination. But then again, this is a panda from China’s Fujian province during an examination in 2005, according to the Atlantic Council’s Digital Research Lab (DFRLab).
Nationalism and distrust
According to the Atlantic Council’s digital research laboratory, this false information about pandas finds its deep source “in Chinese nationalism and distrust of the West.”
“The deterioration of relations between the United States and China is now reflected in Chinese discourse,” notes this laboratory in a report.
At the end of September, AFP journalists in Washington saw Mei Xiang and Tian Tian peacefully devouring treats in their enclosure. The zoo then organized a big party, the “Panda Palooza”, to say goodbye to the two mammals and their cub, Xiao Qi Ji, who will return to China in December at the end of the loan contract with Beijing.
Another panda, Ya Ya, sent to China by the Memphis Zoo in April, was also at the center of a furious disinformation campaign within the country. The zoo was thus accused, without proof, of having caused the death of Le Le, Ya Ya’s companion. Netizens claimed that zookeepers stabbed the panda and sold its eyes.
The zoo vigorously denied this “disinformation” campaign, supported by the Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens which assured that the Memphis pandas were “treated excellently”.
China’s state-run daily Global Times attributed the Ya Ya controversy to poor Sino-US relations.
“If this had not happened at a time when Washington is intensifying its policy of containment and its hostile measures against China, this affair would not have caused such a stir,” he noted in an editorial in March.
In the United States, observers believe that Beijing tolerates, even encourages, anti-American sentiment.
Suspension of panda trade in the United States
“Disinformation about the treatment of pandas is a convenient way to fan these flames,” Isaac Stone Fish, managing director of Strategy Risks, a data analysis company specializing in China, told AFP.
It has prompted calls to suspend panda trade with the United States, one of the few remaining areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The San Diego and Atlanta zoos have already returned their pandas or must return them to China by 2024. Without an extension or new loan, American zoos risk not having a single specimen for the first time in 50 years .
“This campaign is particularly sad given the crucial role of panda diplomacy in promoting positive relations between China and the West,” deplores Darren Linvill, professor at Clemson University, to AFP.
For the expert, this is “an unfortunate symptom of the current state of relations between the two powers”.
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2023-10-04 10:45:00
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