中國大熊貓外交

China's Giant Panda Diplomacy

國家對外戰略與政策的一個重要目標，就是維持增進本國的對外影響力。大熊貓是中國的國寶，「大熊貓外交」始於武則天，而中華人民共和國成立後，自1957年送出第一隻大熊貓迄今，可分成國禮贈送、商業借展、科技交流三個階段；「大熊貓外交」雖引起許多正面讚揚及負面批評，但無論如何，這些討論皆顯示出這是一項吸引外國人向中國聚焦的政策。大熊貓已經從單純的物種昇華成一種文化符號，此一文化符號，可視為柔性權力的一種，中國持續發展「大熊貓文化品牌」的建立，也持續將大熊貓轉型成中國外交上的工具；透過這項外交行為，不僅促進全世界認識物種、也透過可愛且無害的大熊貓形象，讓中國的國際能見度以及國家形象都提升，潛移默化使大熊貓成為柔性國力行使下的外交利器。

Enforcing influence of related power is a vital goal of foreign strategies and policies. The giant panda is not only considered a national treasure in China, but also a powerful diplomatic weapon, called "giant panda diplomacy". Chinese government had given the cute and fluffy giant pandas to different friendly countries as gifts which started as early as the Tang Dynasty in the 7th century. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the giant panda diplomacy can be classified into the following three phases: national present, commercial loan and technological exchange. The purpose of the paper was to search information extensively to know how many giant pandas as a special diplomatic tool were granted by Chinese government. Another aim was to investigate the strategic implications of giant panda diplomacy based on Soft Power. The results revealed that the features of giant panda diplomacy concluded: above all, giant panda is an emissary of peace and friendship, and most of zoo officials believe that the pandas attract crowds and bring a huge windfall in ticket sales. However, for recipients from zoos keeping pandas is an expensive business even over its financial value. For giant pandas, such as captive breeding in confinement may damage their chances of survival in the wild. For Chinese government, using the pandas to improve its national image and deepen relationships with other countries and enable to supply it with valuable resources and technology. Owing to the country received the granting of pandas, but meanwhile accepted China's political goals inclusive of the authoritarian CCP only has the right to rule the country and carry out One China Policy. Giant panda is one of the most important Chinese cultural symbols, a great icon of Chinese soft power, and used a powerful diplomatic tool, so that giant panda diplomacy is a successful soft power strategy to improve China's public images and its relations with other countries in the world.