Rare animals, plants boost ties

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan exchanged rare animals and plants yesterday in a sign of warmer cross-Straits ties.

Top negotiators from both sides announced the move at a ceremony, two days after they signed four historic deals on air and sea transport, postal services and food safety.

The mainland gave Taiwan two giant pandas and gongtong seedlings, receiving long-mane goats and spotted deer in return.

Chen Yunlin, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, said the pair of giant pandas will arrive on the island after relevant procedures are completed.

The 4-year-old panda couple - Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, with their combined names meaning "reunion" in Chinese - will be housed at the Taipei Zoo.

They are now living at a panda breeding base in Ya'an, Sichuan province, after being transferred on June 18 from the Wolong Nature Reserve that was seriously damaged in the May 12 earthquake.

The giant panda offer was first made to Taiwan in 2005 but turned down by the then ruling Democratic Progressive Party administration.

Chen said the giant panda, as a treasure of China, is a symbol of peace and auspiciousness.

"The mainland compatriots sincerely hope the panda couple can live and breed in Taiwan," he said to the applause of dozens of participants at the ceremony, including Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin.

"We hope they will bring happiness, fortune, peace and friendship to our Taiwan compatriots," Chen said.

Jason Yeh, director of the Taipei city zoo, said yesterday he expected the giant pandas to arrive on the island by the end of this year.

"It will be good news for the Taiwan people, if they can see the lovely animals during Spring Festival (which falls on Jan 26, 2009)," he said.

The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species and is unique to China. About 1,800 of the animals live in the wild, while another 240 are found in zoos and breeding centers worldwide.

Chen also offered Taiwan 17 gongtong seedlings, a rare flowering plant that grows only on the mainland.

He said the plants were gifts from the Qiang minority group in Wenchuan, a county in Sichuan.

"The gifts shows the gratitude of mainland compatriots, including those in the quake-affected areas, to Taiwan compatriots for their generous donations and help in quake relief," he said.

"We hope the trees will thrive and blossom on the island to become a living monument, as witness to the blood bond of people across the Straits and their joint efforts to fight disaster."

Gongtong is known as the dove tree by the Qiang people. Also known as the "green giant panda" and the "living fossil of plants", it dates back 10 million years and is native to China – originating in Hubei in central China to Gansu in the north, and Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in the south.

Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung said Taiwan will donate a pair of dotted deer, a critically endangered species; and a pair of small but agile mountain goats that are also seldom seen on the island.