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Panda diplomacy’s circle of life is complete as Trudeau welcomes baby bears
Toronto
Five-month-old panda cubs Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue are exhibited to the media on March 7, 2016.

Five-month-old panda cubs Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue are exhibited to the media on March 7, 2016.

CHRIS YOUNG/THE CANADIAN PRESS

On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got a glimpse at newly named panda cubs Jia Yueyue and Jia Panpan, who made their first public appearance at the Toronto zoo where they were born last fall. Three years ago this month, his predecessor welcomed the pandas' parents to Toronto as 'national treasures.' Here's a look at the bears' tenure in Toronto and how China's 'panda politics' brought them here

EVAN ANNETT

This article was published more than 8 years ago. Some information may no longer be current.

MARCH 25, 2013: THE GOOD NEWS BEARS ARRIVE

Female panda Er Shun and her mate, Da Mao – then five and four years old, respectively – got a celebrity greeting from politicians and media at the Toronto airport upon their arrival in Canada. Prime minister Stephen Harper was on hand to greet the bears, whose travel to Canada he had helped to arrange at a five-day trip to China a year earlier. Pandas, an endangered species native to China, are carefully meted out by Beijing to reward its foreign allies, and their arrival was hailed at the time as a sign of thawing relations between Beijing and Ottawa.

John Ibbitson: A brief history of ‘panda diplomacy’

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To relive those heady days when the bears came among us, check out Mark MacKinnon's report on Mr. Harper's trip to China; Susan Krashinsky's report on the FedEx "Panda Express" that brought them to Canada; and Peter Scowen's explanation of four weird, dark things to know about pandas.

2015: PREGNANCY PANDA-MONIUM BEGINS

Getting pandas to breed in captivity is exceedingly difficult, and the Toronto zoo tried unsuccessfully to get Er Shun pregnant with Da Mao's sperm. Another attempt in May, 2015, with frozen sperm from two giant pandas in China yielded better results; the female panda had twins. The two were born on Oct. 13, 2015, less than a week before the election in which Justin Trudeau's Liberals defeated Mr. Harper's Conservatives. The two cubs, one male and one female, were being held in a special maternity area until their Toronto debut today.

October, 2015: Panda twins are born

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November, 2015: Panda twins have grown

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December, 2015: Panda twins are tired

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MARCH 7, 2016: THE TWINS MAKE THEIR DEBUT

Mr. Trudeau and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne were among those who got a first glimpse of the male and female cubs, who were named Jia Panpan ("Canadian hope") and Jia Yueyue ("Canadian joy"), respectively. It's hoped the cubs will be introduced to the general public later this month.

Mr. Trudeau and China's ambassador to Canada, Luo Zhaohui, stand outside the panda enclosure.

Mr. Trudeau and China’s ambassador to Canada, Luo Zhaohui, stand outside the panda enclosure.

CHRIS YOUNG/THE CANADIAN PRESS

With reports from The Canadian Press, Timothy Appleby and Mark MacKinnon