1972年，中国赠送了一对大熊猫玲玲和兴兴给美国。这是中华人民共和国政府首次向西方国家赠送大熊猫，也开启了中国熊猫外交的黄金期。

如今，半个世纪过去了，中国仍有60多头大熊猫旅居世界不同国家。然而，熊猫外交的成效却在递减，大熊猫在西方媒体中的形象也从原本的憨态可掬，变成浑身肌肉、而且面目狰狞。大熊猫还能体现中国的正面形象吗？中国熊猫外交是否也已经走到了尽头？

这期的早报播客《东谈西论》，听主持人韩咏红，以及《联合早报》驻北京记者于泽远和特派员黄小芳解析中国熊猫外交。

延伸阅读：

• 中国特稿：从招财萌猫变功夫熊猫 中国熊猫外交的变迁与困境
• 中西视角下熊猫形象分歧日益扩大

In 1972, the Chinese government gave two giant pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, to the United States. The arrival of the pandas at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, marked the start of a golden period in China’s panda diplomacy. 

Half a century later, more than 60 pandas are scattered around the globe, but the effectiveness of panda diplomacy appears to be waning and pandas are portrayed more negatively in the Western media. 

In this episode of Global Heartbeat podcast, host Han Yong Hong discusses the future of China’s panda diplomacy with Lianhe Zaobao’s Beijing journalist Yu Zeyuan and correspondent Wong Siew Fong. 

Hosted by Lianhe Zaobao’s Associate Editor, Han Yong Hong, Global Heartbeat is a Mandarin weekly news and current affairs podcast that is updated every Tuesday, 7.00 PM SGT. It is available on zaobao.sg, Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify and other podcast platforms.