For subscribers
At Tokyo zoo, visitors fear a spat with China will cost Japan its pandas
Sign up now: Get insights on Asia's fast-moving developments
Thousands of people descended on Tokyo's Ueno Zoo after seeing news alerts warning that Japan would soon be panda-less for the first time in more than half a century.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TOKYO – When Ueno Zoo in Tokyo announced this week that its most famous residents Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei – twin four-year-old giant pandas on loan from China – would go home in late January, a frenzy broke out in Japan.
Thousands of people descended on the zoo after seeing news alerts warning that Japan would soon be panda-less for the first time in more than half a century. Fears spread that the pandas would not be replaced as China punishes Japan over its of recent expression of support for Taiwan.
