China Offers White Tigers to Taiwan
Date: 15-Jul-08
Country: CHINA
Guangdong province offered the tigers to Taiwan's southern port city Kaohsiung when a group led by the city council speaker visited local officials in China, city officials said. Kaohsiung has not decided whether to accept the offer.
China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communists won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists (KMT) fled to the island. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.
Since China-friendly Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May, economic and trade ties have quickly warmed, and Beijing has offered to donate a pair of China-symbolic giant pandas, sparking competition to home them among Taiwan zoos.
In a similar goodwill trade, Taipei's zoo and the Shanghai Wild Animals Park will exchange three animal species apiece to share breeding techniques, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin said on Monday.
(Reporting by Ralph Jennings)