Coming up roses? How Trump planted a new seed for Chinese gift diplomacy

Donald Trump was apparently captivated by the “beautiful” roses in the garden of the Communist Party’s leadership compound when he visited Beijing in May.

It was a relaxed moment between the US and Chinese leaders – otherwise locked in disputes ranging from trade to technology and Taiwan – that led to a new opportunity for gift diplomacy between the rival powers.

Strolling around the former imperial garden at Zhongnanhai with Xi Jinping, Trump was so taken with a China rose variety in bloom that he asked his host for some to be sent to Washington.

“These are the most beautiful roses anyone’s ever seen,” Trump told reporters at the time. “I asked the president, ‘Could you get me some for the Rose Garden?’ And he said ‘yes’. I’ve never seen roses so big!”

Xi responded through his interpreter that some rose seeds would be sent.

02:58

Xi Jinping gives Donald Trump an ‘extremely rare’ private tour of Beijing’s Zhongnanhai

Soon Trump will be able to admire them in the Rose Garden at the White House, after the Chinese leader came good on his promise.

More than 20 types of China rose – or Rosa chinensis – in seven colours were sent and it was the first time those varieties had entered the United States, according to a Beijing TV report on Tuesday.

They were selected for their suitability to Washington’s climate, their resilience, the size of their blooms and their colour, The Beijing News reported.

Most of the varieties were bred in Beijing, where the China rose is the official flower and a big part of urban greening efforts. More than 3,000 cultivated varieties of the rose have been planted across 20 sq km (7.7 sq miles) in the capital city.

Reflecting on last month’s Washington summit, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the China roses sent by Beijing were a symbol of the goodwill and friendship of the Chinese people, according to a ministry statement.

They were not the only gifts sent by China. Photos from Xi’s visit released by the White House included one of the Chinese leader presenting a golden model of the Hall of Supreme Harmony to Trump in the Blue Room.

The hall is the largest in Beijing’s Forbidden City and was a ceremonial venue where Chinese emperors hosted enthronement and wedding ceremonies.

In return, Trump presented Xi with a silver plate bearing his signature. At a state dinner that evening, Trump also gave Xi a sculpture of a bald eagle, a bird native to North America and his country’s national symbol.

Trump gifts Xi bald eagle statue

While the roses, models and statues had symbolic weight, it was the gifts that arrived on four legs that captured the most attention in the United States.

Giant pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang arrived at Zoo Atlanta on September 27 under a 10-year loan agreement.

The pandas will spend a month in quarantine before they make their public debut on November 6 at a facility that has just been renovated at a cost of US$6 million. Zoo Atlanta is one of only three in the US that has giant pandas.

The animals are native to central and southwestern China and are seen as a national treasure. As such, Beijing retains ownership of every giant panda sent abroad under international agreements.

They are seen as living emissaries of goodwill in a tradition known as “panda diplomacy” that dates back to 1972, when Beijing presented Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing to a zoo in Washington following then-US president Richard Nixon’s landmark visit to China. The pandas were a hit and served as a gentle bridge between the two nations after decades of diplomatic ice. The US government sent China a pair of musk oxen in return.

China has stopped giving giant pandas as gifts, instead moving to the loan arrangements as it tries to protect the endangered species.

00:51

Giant pandas Ping Ping and Fu Shuang settle into new home in Atlanta zoo