Pandas and table tennis: China’s national icons fall victim to toxic fan culture

“Recently, it has been deeply disheartening to see certain individuals inciting and manipulating public opinion – both domestically and abroad – to smear China’s ‘friendship ambassadors’, the giant pandas, while relentlessly cyberbullying frontline panda caretakers,” it said.

“This work calls for real commitment, not emotional outbursts or fan frenzy. While public oversight is welcomed, we firmly oppose extreme or illegal acts carried out in the name of ‘love’.”

In June, a court in Sichuan convicted two people of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” for falsely claiming that researchers had abused giant pandas, and for inciting online harassment against research institutes and staff.