country-to-country transfer protocols were respected. The ROC also noted that such procedures would not have been needed if it had been an internal/domestic transfer. The ROC further noted that Taiwan is not a CITES signatory and is therefore not obligated to report to the CITES Secretariat its acceptance of the two pandas. Other animals as diplomatic gifts Internationally, other rare animals appear as diplomatic/political gifts as well. For example, in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, five Chinese sturgeons, symbolising the five Olympic rings, were given by China's Central Government to Hong Kong. In 2009, the government of the Seychelles Islands announced its gift of a pair of Aldabra giant tortoises to the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and in appreciation of China assisting the small insular nation with the expenses of participating in the Expo. The two tortoises will be actually kept in Shanghai Zoo. In response to China's panda diplomacy, French President Emmanuel Macron gifted Xi Jinping one of France's elite cavalry corps’ horses. The government of Mongolia has a practice of gifting horses to visiting dignitaries. Recipients include President of South Korea Park Geun-hye, Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, and the United States Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. A horse was also given by Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga to Barron Trump, the youngest son of U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump named the horse, "Victory". The Philippines plans to loan a pair of Philippine eagles to Singapore in 2019 for ten years as an effort to boost ties between the two countries. The Philippine government also considers the move as an "insurance policy" in a bid to protect the endangered species' population in the event an avian outbreak wipes out the indigenous population in the Philippines. See also Animal rights Foreign policy of China Ocean Park Hong Kong Ping-pong diplomacy Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China Stadium diplomacy World Wide Fund for Nature References External links Animals as diplomatic gifts Foreign relations of China Diplomacy