Last pandas in Japan leave for China as relations sour

Tensions have spilled into the animal world as Tokyo and Beijing continue a deepening row over Taiwan

Panda fans flocked to Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on Sunday to bid farewell to its star residents –giant panda twins Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei, who are set to return to China this week. The departure of the four-year-olds will leave Japan without pandas for the first time in over forty years.

China first sent pandas to Japan in 1972 as a goodwill...