China sends panda experts to Taiwan to help treat sick animal

aiwan has welcomed a pair of experts from China to help with an ailing panda, in a rare opportunity for contact between the sides.

Key points:

• Lesions on Tuan Tuan's brain have grown
• Experts said the disease was "progressing rapidly"
• The experts came from China's main panda research base in Sichuan

The two Chinese experts arrived on Tuesday after Taipei Zoo's Tuan Tuan, suspected to have a malignant brain tumour, took a turn for the worse.

The giant panda and his mate, Yuan Yuan, were gifted to the zoo in 2008 during a time of warming relations between China and Taiwan, which split amid civil war in 1949.

Ties have deteriorated since then, with Beijing cutting off contact in 2016 following the election of independence-leaning President Tsai Ing-wen, who was re-elected in 2020.

Polls routinely show Taiwanese rejecting China's demand for political unification between the sides, favouring instead the status quo of de facto independence.

Pandas remain among the world's most threatened species.(AP: Taipei Zoo)

China sends pandas abroad as a sign of goodwill but maintains ownership over the animals and any cubs they produce.

The animals are native to south-western China and are an unofficial national mascot.

Surgery paused despite worsening sickness

An MRI on Tuan Tuan showed lesions on his brain had grown in a sign the disease was "progressing rapidly", the zoo said in a news release.

Zoo spokesperson Eric Tsao said China and Taiwan were pooling their knowledge and experience to provide Tuan Tuan with "the best treatment and the best daily care".