DutchNews, October 26, 2015
China is lending two giant pandas to the
Netherlands, foreign affairs minister Bert Koenders said on Monday.
The
minister was speaking in Beijing on the second day of a state visit by king
Willem-Alexander and queen Máxima.
The loan is ‘a sign of the special bond
between China and the Netherlands’, the minister told Dutch media.
The loan is
definitely a sign of close ties between the two countries, but the Netherlands
has been pushing for it for some time, according to Volkskrant reporter Marije
Vlaskamp.
‘Prime minister Mark Rutte did not ask explicitly during his visit to
China two years ago, but he hardly stopped talking about it,’ she writes.
The
pandas are not a gift and will cost the Netherlands money, although how high
the cost will be is not known.
The pandas will housed at Ouwehands Zoo in
Rhenen, but it is not yet known when they will arrive. ‘It depends on the
preparations, including the building of an enclosure for them,’ a spokesman
told the Volkskrant.
Junior economic affairs minister Sharon Dijksma says she
has signed an agreement with the Chinese forestry commission for the two
animals. She says it offers the opportunity for working together on other animal
protection programmes.
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