Two giant pandas arrived in Scotland on Sunday. British officials said the 10-year loan of the bears by China strengthened ties between the two countries. Over the years, Beijing gave pandas away as goodwill tokens. The black-and-white bear still apparently inspires warm feelings that span across borders. The difference is, now China makes you pay for it.

A pair of giant pandas could be on their way to a zoo in the tsunami-affected area of Japan. The idea originated from correspondence between Premier Wen Jiabao and a Japanese girl he met during his visit to Miyagi prefecture in late May following the magnitude-9 quake and ensuing tsunami that struck Japan on March 11.

The Kung Fu Panda series does not boast remarkable plot lines. In fact, to many critics, it is a plain story coming straight out of the US film assembly line. Its success sheds a light on how to commercialize cultural elements and increase so-called soft power.

Japan is rolling out a red carpet ahead of the arrival of much-awaited special guests from China: a pair of giant pandas. The two 5-year-old pandas are due to arrive at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo on Monday. They'll be the zoo's first since the 2008 death of its beloved giant panda Ling Ling.

The latest chapter in the long story of panda diplomacy was written at Washington’s National Zoo, where the Chinese government agreed to lengthen the “loan” of popular panda pair Mei Xiang and Tian Tian for another five years.

China is extending its so-called panda diplomacy agreement with the United States, letting giant pandas stay at the Washington national zoo for another five years, a Chinese conservation official said on Wednesday.

Follow the pandas: they remain a good guide to where China’s biggest foreign policy interests lie. Since “panda diplomacy” began in the 1950s with an overture to the Soviet Union, gifts of cuddly-looking bears with cutesy names have helped point to the big themes in Beijing’s strategic positioning.

As a spat between Beijing and Tokyo rumbles on, China on Wednesday opted for a bit of panda diplomacy, naming a Japanese woman as one of six winners of a contest to care for the endangered animals.