The two giant pandas were sent from China on a mission with deep diplomatic implications. And so when it appeared this week that one of them had died, the online mourning took on a particularly political tone.
In 2005, China had offered the pair to Taiwan, but the government of the self-ruled island, which China claims as its own territory, demurred. Then, in 2008, after a president who favoured far closer ties with China was elected, the panda couple made their way across the Taiwan Strait to the island's capital, Taipei.
A poll was held to select their names. The winners were Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan. Put together, they form the Chinese word tuanyuan, or reunion, which alluded to China's goal of unification with Taiwan.
On Friday, that conciliatory president, Ma Ying-jeou, will step down. His successor, Tsai Ing-wen, is expected to be far more cautious about trade deals and other agreements promoting cross-strait ties. When Chinese news outlets reported on Monday that Tuan Tuan, the male half of the pair, was dead, some in China saw it as an ominous sign.
There was just one problem: the reports, which were carried by prominent Communist Party-run outlets, including Global Times and the English-language Twitter account of People's Daily, were wrong. Tuan Tuan is alive and healthy, the Taipei Zoo quickly clarified. On its Facebook page, it released a photograph of him Monday peering out from a cage with a selection of the day's Taipei newspapers arrayed in the foreground.
"Tuan Tuan says: What more do you need?" the caption read. "Please don't believe online rumours. Friends who care about Tuan Tuan don't need to worry." Global Times later apologised for its report.
New York Times