Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's remarks on a Taiwan contingency have irked China, casting a shadow over prospects for new pandas coming to Japan as the return deadline for the twin cubs currently at a zoo in Tokyo approaches in February.

Large crowds continued to visit Ueno Zoological Gardens on Saturday as the farewell nears for the giant pandas, Xiao Xiao and Lei Lei. They are currently the only pandas in Japan, drawing significant public interest.

The two pandas, born in 2021, are slated to be sent to China under a bilateral lease agreement. One fan expressed concern about the escalating political tensions, saying, "Pandas might disappear from Japan altogether."

At the zoo, bustling with visitors over the three-day weekend, a 42-year-old company employee from Kyoto Prefecture said pandas are "special animals that soothe people just by being seen," urging that they remain at Ueno.

His five-year-old daughter said, "I would feel sad if the cute pandas were gone," while holding a stuffed toy of the animal.

In June, all four giant pandas on loan at a zoo in Wakayama Prefecture departed for China, leaving only the Ueno pair in Japan. Wakayama and Kyoto prefectures are both in the Kansai region, several hundred kilometers from Tokyo.

Earlier this month, Takaichi said a Taiwan emergency involving the use of military force by China could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, possibly allowing it to exercise the right of collective self-defense.

A Chinese daily reported on its social media platform that if the present circumstances persist, Beijing may suspend new panda loans, citing an expert who warned that Japan could lose access to the animals.

Yukinori Yokomi, secretary general of the Japan-China Friendship Association, a public interest incorporated group based in Tokyo, said he fears that exchange programs will eventually disappear.

"Pandas are messengers of peace between Japan and China. I am worried that efforts to attract them might suffer a setback because of the recent issue," Yokomi said, voicing hope that the matter will be resolved.