從1972年起，中國的“熊貓外交”已經存在很多年了。如今，已經有14個海外國家擁有象征著中華人民共和國友誼的熊貓特使。

By John Lydon

Germany was buzzing late last month with news that a long-awaited giant panda pair had arrived at the Berlin Zoo. The zoo had been without a panda since the death of Bao Bao five years earlier, and panda mania gripped the nation as the public waited to see Meng Meng and Jiao Qing.
6月下旬，德國民眾開始沸騰，新聞報道稱民眾盼望已久的一對大熊貓已經抵達柏林動物園。自從5年前熊貓“寶寶”去世后，柏林動物園中就再也沒有熊貓的身影了。德國民眾對“夢夢”和“嬌慶”翹首以盼之時，熊貓熱潮已席卷德國。

On July 5, the day before the new $10 million Chinese-themed enclosure would open, the zoo held a welcoming ceremony for the pandas. Visiting President Xi Jinping toured the enclosure with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
7月5日，在造價千萬美元的中國風大熊貓館開放的前一天，動物園為熊貓們舉行了一場歡迎儀式。德國總理安格拉?默克爾陪同來訪的中國國家主席習近平參觀了大熊貓館。

Merkel was overjoyed with the arrival of the "special envoys", telling Xi they were a "symbol for the relationship between our two countries".
默克爾對“熊貓特使”的到來感到十分欣喜，并對習近平表示，它們是“兩國關系的象征”。

How right she was.
默克爾說的非常正確。

"Panda diplomacy" has been around for years.
“熊貓外交”已經存在很多年了。

In February 1972, US president Richard Nixon traveled with his wife, Pat, and adviser Henry Kissinger to Beijing to meet Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, dramatically ending Washington's diplomatic cold shoulder toward the New China. Beijing, to underscore its goodwill toward the United States, sent two giant pandas to Washington the following month.
1972年2月，美國總統理查德?尼克松與妻子帕特、顧問亨利?基辛格一起訪華，并與毛澤東和周恩來會晤，結束了美方對新中國的外交孤立政策。北京為了表示對美國的善意，于同年3月將兩只大熊貓贈送給華盛頓動物園。

It’s a gesture that China has often repeated in various countries. In March, for instance, two pandas were sent to the Netherlands. Fourteen foreign countries now have giant pandas, sent as a token of friendship by the People's Republic.
這是中國外交經常出現的一種姿態。例如，2017年3月，兩只大熊貓被送往荷蘭。如今，已有海外14個國家擁有象征著中華人民共和國友誼的大熊貓。

It’s such a heartwarming diplomatic gesture, you have to wonder why other countries haven't followed suit.
這是一種暖人心房的外交手段，你一定想知道，為什么其他國家沒有效仿。

Sure, after the National Zoo in Washington received the gift in 1972, Nixon reciprocated by sending a pair of Alaskan muskoxen to China. But it's not the same. A muskox just doesn't say “Greetings from the US”.
當然，在1972年美國華盛頓國家動物園收到中國的禮物之后，美國總統尼克松也送了中國一對阿拉斯加麝牛作為回禮。但二者的意義是不一樣的。一只麝牛確實不能被看成“來自美國的問候”。

For that you’d need the bald eagle, the US national bird, as seen on dollar bills, or the American bison, the national mammal.
如果非要以動物來代表美國的問候，你需要的是美鈔上的美國國鳥禿鷹，或者美國國獸美洲野牛。

Most countries have a designated national animal, such as Russia's Eurasian brown bear or India's Bengal tiger. Some chose birds, like France's Gallic rooster and Colombia’s Andean condor, and some reptiles, like Indonesia's Komodo dragon.
大多數國家都有代表本國的特定動物，如俄羅斯的歐亞棕熊或印度的孟加拉虎。一些國家選擇鳥類作為代表國家的動物，比如，法國的高盧雄雞和哥倫比亞的安第斯神鷲，還有一些國家選擇了爬行動物，如印度尼西亞的科莫多巨蜥。

One could imagine a pair of any of these creatures serving as a diplomatic greeting card to a foreign country.
你可以想象一下，如果將從上述生物中選兩只作為外交名片送到他國去，會是什么結果。

Still, the panda seems to have an inexplicable universal charm.
然而，熊貓似乎擁有一種神奇的萬能魅力。

In the excitement leading up to the arrival of Xing Ya and Wu Wen at Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands, de Volkskrant newspaper in Amsterdam published an explanation of the phenomenon.
“星雅”和“武雯”到達荷蘭歐維漢茲動物園后，荷蘭民眾激動不已，總部位于阿姆斯特丹的荷蘭《人民報》刊文解釋了此現象。

According to de Volkskrant, human beings are psychologically wired to feel tenderness for pandas. It's called the "baby effect". As with human infants, the pupils of a panda's eyes appear proportionately too big.
《人民報》認為，受心理影響，人類認為熊貓有著其他動物不具備的討喜氣質。這種氣質被稱為“嬰兒效應”。因為熊貓和人類嬰兒一樣，眼睛瞳孔的比例都非常大。

"The panda's eye patches, moreover, sit just right, with the corner of the eye lower, a shape that people associate with supplication and subservience," the newspaper quoted psychologist Mariska Kret of Leiden University as saying. "Turn them the other way around and you get an angry looking face."
“此外，熊貓黑眼圈的位置也是恰到好處。向下傾斜的形狀會給人懇求和服從的感覺”，該報援引荷蘭萊頓大學心理學家瑪麗斯卡?克列特的話稱，“如果把熊貓的黑眼圈換個方向，就會產生完全不同的效果。你會看到一張憤怒的臉。”

Add the round ears, small snout and head that looks proportionately too big, de Volkskrant added, and it's like a baby, huggable.
《人民報》還寫道，再加上圓圓的耳朵，小鼻子和看起來比例過大的頭，它就像一個嬰兒，招人喜愛。

I can't imagine saying that about a bald eagle.
你說禿頭鷹也像嬰兒一樣討喜？我無法想象。

英文來源：“CHINA DAILY”微信公眾號

翻譯：劉子安（中國日報網愛新聞iNews譯者）
編審：丹妮 董靜
音頻編輯：焦潔

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John Lydon is a copy editor from the United States. He has worked at China Daily for seven years.