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China's panda business: How zoos from U.S. to Japan fund Beijing soft power

'Panda diplomacy' has cost countries nearly $300 million over past three decades

AHTARI, Finland -- Four hours north of Helsinki by car is a town that's outwardly as sleepy as its two most famous residents, giant pandas Lumi and Pyry. Some 6,500 kilometers from the bears' homeland of Sichuan province, China, Ahtari is the backdrop for an intrigue that lays bare the financial cost of Beijing's 'panda diplomacy.'

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