Danish queen to open new zoo enclosure for Chinese pandas

In this picture taken trough a window female panda Men Meng eats bamboo at its enclosure at the Zoo in Berlin, Germany on April 5, 2019. AP

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Denmark’s Queen Margrethe is opening a new enclosure at Copenhagen zoo for two freshly arrived occupants: a pair of pandas on loan from China as the Scandinavian nation becomes part of Beijing’s so-called “panda diplomacy.”

The Chinese Ambassador to Denmark, Deng Ying, called male Zing Er and female Mao Sun “national treasures of China and symbol of peace” when they arrived last week.

The bears were accommodated at a newly-built, 160 million-kroner ($24.2 million) Panda House, designed by a renowned Danish architect.

The monarch will declare the enclosure open later Wednesday. The public can see the pandas for the first time Thursday.

For decades, China has lent out pandas as a sign of goodwill and closer political ties. Last year, Finland and Germany each received two pandas. /ee