The Chinese mainland has made adequate preparations for sending
a pair of giant pandas to Taiwan, and it hoped that these animals
could leave soon, a mainland official has said.
"Taiwan authorities headed by Chen Shuibian refuse the shipment
of the pandas for political reasons, but people in the mainland
want to send them to Taiwan compatriots with a firm and sincere
wish," Yang Yi, spokesman with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the
State Council, said on Wednesday.
In May 2005, the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of
China Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State
Council announced a campaign to send giant pandas to Taiwan to
display cross-strait peace and comity.
After discussions among experts, standards for choosing the
pandas were released and the organizing agency for the campaign was
chosen.
After careful experiments, two pandas were chosen from the China
Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong, in southwest
Sichuan Province.
The two pandas were considered as the best choice by the
center.
At the lunar new year festival eve of 2006, the pandas were
named "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan", both meaning union, as a result of
votes by cross-straits compatriots and netizens.
Since then, the pandas had been cared for by the center and both
were in good condition, Yang said.
Some Taiwan compatriots showed their affection for pandas as
well, and they traveled a long distance from Taiwan to Sichuan to
see the pair, Yang added.
(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2008)