Fan Liqing, spokeswoman of the State
Council Taiwan Affairs Office, addresses a press conference in
Beijing, Nov. 26. Taiwan residents will be allowed to enter the legal
profession on the mainland, according to the press
conference. (Photo: www.chinataiwan.org ) Photo Gallery>>>
BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- A mainland official on
Wednesday said the date for sending two pandas donated by the Chinese mainland
to Taiwan has not been finalized, but the two sides were working to ensure they
arrive next month.
Fan Liqing, State Council Taiwan Affairs Office
spokeswoman, said both sides were making "positive and considerate" preparations
to make sure the bears, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, meaning "reunion", would arrive
in Taiwan in December.
The Taipei Mucha Zoo, which will house the pair, was
working on enclosure renovation, she said.
She added that both sides needed to work on the
schedule of the chartered flights, as well as other transportation and
quarantine issues.
The 4-year-old pandas, from one of China's most
endangered species, are at a breeding base at Ya'an in southwestern Sichuan
Province.
They were relocated to the base on June 18 from the
Wolong Nature Reserve, also in Sichuan, which was seriously damaged in the
magnitude-8 earthquake on May 12.
The mainland announced in May 2005 that it would send
pandas to Taiwan to demonstrate goodwill, but the animals' departure has been
delayed for more than three years by political issues.
Taiwan also promised to send to the Chinese mainland
two rare animals. One is an indigenous goat, the other is a spotted deer.
