With politics set aside, well-wishers have gathered to wish Taipei zoo’s oldest giant panda a happy 20th birthday. Yuanyuan was born in China and gifted by Beijing as a sign of goodwill toward the island that it claims as its own territory. Yuanyuan arrived in 2008 with her partner Tuantuan. He died in 2022 at age 18, but not before fathering two cubs, Yuanbao and Yuanzai. Giant pandas are native only to China and Beijing bestows them as a sign of political friendship, despite tensions between the two sides.