Part 2/13:
Hosting Fi costs Australian taxpayers $15,000 weekly, with the borrowing arrangement set to end after 10 years. Critics see these pandas not as diplomatic symbols but as costly tokens of an alliance built more on symbolism than substance. The notion of formally "building" a friendship around a fluffy, black-and-white distraction seems to underscore the superficial nature of some diplomatic gestures in a complex geopolitical landscape.