Associated Press

Taipei, May 3:

A Taiwanese official today outlined complex guidelines for accepting China’s offer of two panda bears, underscoring the government’s caution toward China’s diplomatic gesture.

Lee Ching-lung, head of Taiwan’s Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture, said that only research institutions could apply to receive the protected animals, but said that zoos would be eligible. Lee also outlined inspection and quarantine requirements for receiving the animals. Earlier today, China said it was giving a pair of giant pandas to the people of Taiwan plus concessions on fruit imports and tourism, in a mix of symbolic and concrete gestures to cap a groundbreaking visit to the mainland by a Taiwanese opposition leader.

Lien Chan, head of Taiwan’s Nationalist Party, returned home today following an eight-day visit that provoked harsh criticism among lawmakers from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic

Progressive Party, who accused him of trying to undercut government authority by engaging in private diplomacy. One of the ruling party’s greatest concerns is that China will insist Taiwan accept the pandas as a local Chinese government rather than as a self-governing entity. “If we accept the pandas that means we’re admitting ourselves we’re a local government,” said a DPP MP.