This is the best summary I could come up with:

Laurie Thompson, the zoo’s assistant curator of giant pandas, said the trio’s return to China would be difficult for the keepers who see them, as she says, “almost more than I see my family.”

The first giant pandas came to the U.S. in 1972 under President Richard Nixon, after he made a historic visit to China that paved the way for the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1979.

“It’s basically a symbol of friendship between China and the rest of the world,” said Chee Meng Tan, an assistant professor at Nottingham University Business School’s Malaysia campus who has studied panda diplomacy.

There are an estimated 1,800 in the wild and an additional 600 living in captivity around the world, with foreign zoos paying China rent on the bears that goes toward conservation efforts.

The lapsing of the panda agreements is an indicator of the “generally worsening” U.S.-China relationship, as each country takes actions that hurt the other but are ultimately counterproductive, said Graham Allison, a professor of government at Harvard and former Defense Department official.

“So we’re happy at the same time that we’ve been able to sort of cross the finish line with three healthy, well-adjusted pandas going back to China.”

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