A pair of giant panda twins have been caught on camera engaging in a sibling showdown, ranging from adorable snuggles to energetic play-fighting as they battle it out to be top bear at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) base in southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Video footage recently posted on the 'iPanda' multimedia platform shows one of the fluffy pandas clinging tightly onto its twin, interrupting its sibling while it was busy concentrating on eating bamboo.
In another clip, the dueling duo were seen frolicking away atop a tall wooden structure, attempting to scratch and bite each other around a tree trunk.
The male panda An Bao and his twin sister Zhong Zhong were born in August 2022 at the CCRCGP Wolong Shenshuping Base, and are now living in Dujiangyan Base. Their mother Zhang Ka is a wild panda who was found at Mount Zhangga in the Fengtongzhai National Nature Reserve in Sichuan. She is a legendary panda whose two captive-born cubs were later successfully reintroduced into the wild.
The CCRCGP is a world-leading institution for the breeding and conservation of one of China's national treasures. The center has also established a global platform for promoting international cooperation and exchanges involving 18 zoos from 16 countries and regions, as well as 39 domestic animal breeding institutions and more than 10 scientific research institutes.
Cute panda twins engage in playful sibling showdown
A Chinese mainland spokesperson said Lai Ching-te has sent "a dangerous signal" of seeking "Taiwan independence" and making provocations to undermine cross-Strait peace and stability in his speech upon assuming the role of Taiwan region's new leader on Monday.
Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, described Lai's speech as one that stubbornly followed the "Taiwan independence" stance, wantonly advocated separatism, incited cross-Strait confrontation and sought independence by relying on foreign support and by force.
Chen said the mainstream public aspiration on the island is for peace and development, instead of war and recession, while Lai has ignored the public opinion, exposing his nature of being "a worker for Taiwan independence."
The current complex and grave situation across the Strait is rooted in the fact that the Democratic Progressive Party has stubbornly stuck to the separatist stance of "Taiwan independence," rejected the 1992 Consensus that embodies the one-China principle, and kept colluding with external forces to make provocations of seeking "Taiwan independence," Chen said.
Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, said Chen, stressing that "Taiwan independence" and peace across the Strait are incompatible as fire and water.
"We have firm determination to resolve the Taiwan question and realize national reunification; we have strong capabilities to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity; and we will take resolute actions to fight separatist activities seeking 'Taiwan independence' and external interference," he said.
"We will never tolerate any 'Taiwan independence' separatist acts in any form," said Chen.
China must and will be reunified, Chen stressed. No matter how the situation on the island changes and who assumes the regional leader, it will not change the fact that both sides of the Strait belong to one China, or impede the historical trend of national reunification, he said.
"We will fully implement the Party's overall policy for resolving the Taiwan question in the new era, unswervingly uphold the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, work together with Taiwan compatriots to promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and cross-Strait integrated development, and resolutely advance the reunification of the motherland," said Chen.
Mainland says Lai sends "dangerous signal" in speech as Taiwan's new leader
