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China has said a pair of long-promised giant pandas symbolising “peace, unity and friendship” will be sent to Taiwan next week in the latest sign of warming ties between the two once-bitter rivals.
Beijing first offered the pandas to Taiwan in 2005 hoping the cuddly animals would strengthen Taiwanese public support for reuniting with the mainland, but the island’s former leaders rejected the offer as a propaganda ploy.
Taiwan’s current President Ma Ying-jeou, however, has tried to nurture closer ties with the mainland and accepted the pandas as a goodwill gesture.
Cao Qingyao, a spokesman for the State Forestry Administration, told state broadcaster TV on Friday that both Giant Pandas will leave the Ya’an Panda Reserve for Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, in southwestern Sichuan province, on Tuesday morning.
The four-year-old pandas will then depart from the Chengdu airport for Taiwan.
The pair are named “Tuan Tuan” and “Yuan Yuan,” which when linked mean “reunion” in Chinese.Chinese state media said last week that crate training and comfort food were part of the preparations for the trip for the two pandas.
State media reported the two will travel to the Taipei Zoo accompanied by a veterinarian and a panda keeper, who will bring along a week’s supply of the pair’s favourite foods – bamboo, apples and steamed cornbread – to ease the adjustment.
The giant panda is unique to China and serves as an unofficial national mascot, giving such gifts political overtones.
China regularly sends the animals abroad as a sign of warm diplomatic relations or to mark breakthroughs in ties.
In return for the pandas, Taiwan will send two Formosan serows, which are goatlike mammals unique to Taiwan, to China.
The exchange comes as relations have improved between the rivals since Ma took office in May and moved to reverse the pro-independence policy of his predecessor, Chen Shui-bian.
On Monday, the two sides formally ended a nearly six-decade ban on regular links by opening a new era of direct air and shipping services between the two sides. China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949.
Beijing continues to claim the self-governing island as part of its territory, and has been using a blend of threats and diplomacy to try to bring Taiwan back into its fold.
Sachin Tendulkar’s match-winning century knock in Chennai which he dedicated to the people of India deeply hurt by the terror attack in Mumbai has earned respect from England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff who called the master bastman a “role model” for the game.
“It is impossible not to admire him (Tendulkar) when you are out in the middle. He is a class player and a great role model for the game,” Flintoff said.
“His innings (in Chennai) was a scriptwriter’s dream. The lad from Mumbai, with everything that has happened there, scores a hundred to win and then dedicates it to everyone in the country. Thinking about it, it was probably inevitable it happened,” he was quoted as saying by ‘The Independent’. Flintoff said playing against Tendulkar brought the best out of him.
“Playing against him brings the best out of you in a lot of ways. The worrying thing for us is that he was getting better towards the end of that innings. You could see in the way he was playing he was back to his best.”
The 31-year-old Lancashire player was of the view that there is very little margin for error bowling against greats like Tendulkar and Brian Lara. “I enjoy bowling at him, as I did at the likes of Brian Lara. I think they bring the best out of you. Your margins for error are small, you have to bowl well to restrict them, never mind get them out.”
Akhil
Posted on: December 10, 2008
Akhil Kumar gave India a resounding start at the inaugural AIBA boxing World Cup, out-punching Germany’s Marcel Schneider 15-6 to enter the bantam weight semi-finals and assure himself of a medal in Moscow on Wednesday (Dec 10).
The 27-year-old Indian will be up against Beijing Olympics silver medallist Yankiel Leon Alarcon of Cuba in the semi-finals on December 13. The Cuban beat Botswana’s Khumiso Ikgopoleng 7-0 in the other last eight bout.
Today’s win has not just assured Akhil of a bronze medal but also USD 2,500 in prize money. “I was slightly nervous to start with because the first bout is always crucial. He (Schneider) was not attacking and I also stuck to counter-punching. I kept my guard down, like I usually do and gained in confidence as the bout progressed,” Akhil said after the bout.
Akhil, who was a quarter-finalist in Beijing, was in rampaging mood today and didn’t allow his opponent to land a single scoring punch in the first round, at the end of which he led 4-0.
The diminutive counter-puncher built on the lead in the next two rounds, scoring seven points. Though Schneider managed to hold his own in the third and fourth rounds by landing six blows, Akhil’s first-round lead gave him a comfortable six-point cushion.
The final round belonged to the Haryana-boxer, who picked up three more points to complete the formalities.
“The coaches — GS Sandhu and Jaidev Bisht — asked me to keep moving around the ring at good pace and that did the trick for me. My fitness is nowhere near what it was during the Beijing Olympics but it is good,” said Akhil.
“My target is the gold medal. The bronze and silver medals are the ones you get by luck. Next up for me is a Cuban boxer and though he is formidable, I am ready for the challenge,” he said.
Among the other bantam weight results, world champion and local favourite Sergey Vodopyanov, whom Akhil beat in the second round of Beijing Olympics, scored a comfortable 13-7 win over Uzbek Hoorshid Tojibaev.
Vodopyanov next faces Beijing bronze medallist Veaceslav Gojan of Moldova, who defeated Azerbaijan’s Rahim Najafov.
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