China’s wolf warrior diplomacy

As China’s communist party celebrates its 100th anniversary on July 1st, one of the key changes that happened under its stewardship is the rise of aggressive diplomatic posturing against other countries. While this is not a new phenomenon, it has nevertheless acquired domineering proportions in China’s interactions with the outside world.

The triggers for such a belligerent posture are located in its history, contemporary interactions and practice but also a sense of belonging to the Middle Kingdom of the yore. In the words of the Qing emperor Qianlong, meeting the British Earl George Macartney’s 1793 delegation: “Our dynasty’s majestic virtue has penetrated unto every country under heaven, and kings of all nations have offered their costly tribute by land and sea. … we possess all things. I set no value on objects strange or ingenious, and have no use for your country’s manufactures”. This streak runs through the subsequent generations of Chinese leaders in what was termed as “great wall syndrome” of keeping away the “barbarians” from the outside world.

Even though China is a major beneficiary of the globalisation process, specifically after entering the World Trade Organisation in 2001, the rise of China in the past four decades vetted its global ambitionsto assert itself. A shift from Deng Xiaoping’s “keeping a low profile” (taoguangyanghui) to Xi Jinping’s “accomplishing something” (fenfayouwei) has a huge bearing on the country’s attitudes. China’s rise is also reflected in such movies as the Wolf Warrior series which assured the Chinese that the party-state would back them to the hilt in their pursuits abroad. This is clearly flowing from the decisions taken at the 4th and 5th Central Conferences on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs in November 2014 and June 2018 at Beijing respectively to protect China’s interests abroad.

There is also the influence of rising nationalism in China, which since the Japanese defeat of China in 1895, was targeted against Japan. Apart from the number of demonstrations against Japanese businesses on historical issues, recently, those 200 Chinese scholars who availed Japan Foundation fellowships were termed as “traitors”. China’s rabid nationalism is also directed against the United States. As relations between China and the US deteriorated since the tariff issues came into prominence, China’s diplomats began using sharp invectives in their responses. In the backdrop of the border tensions at Dokhlam in 2017 and the bloody conflict at Galwan in June 2020 between India and China, China’s nationalism is also getting diversified.

Several recent instances can be cited on how China has been implementing its “wolf warrior” diplomacy. The US and its allies faced the brunt of the attacks of China. Zhao Lijian, the foreign ministry spokesman tweeted the US military personnel introduced bioweapons at Wuhan in October 2019 during the World Military Sports events, although he did not provide evidence nor retain the tweet for long. Zhao and other spokespersons comments have increasingly become hoarse on the State Department officials and coincided with the US sanctions on issues related to Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan, South China Sea, Huawei, ZTE and others.

Australia bore the brunt of Chinese attacks too as it took lead in the World Health Assembly in May last year for a probe into the origins of epidemic at Wuhan. China imposed restrictions on Australian products. In December last year, in a bizarre incident, Zhao tweeted a morphed photo of an Australian soldier holding a knife to the throat of an Afghan child. Prime Minister Morrison retaliated by stating that the “Chinese government should be totally ashamed of this post. It diminishes them in the world's eyes.”

China’s ambassador to France Lu Shaye’s April 2020 disparaged the western countries criticism of China’s handling of the pandemic and lack of transparency. When this March the United States, the European Union, Britain and Canada imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, China sanctioned several European nationals, including French Member of the European Parliament Raphaël Glucksmann, Adrian Zenz, MERICS Reinhard Butikofer, Michael Gahler, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Miriam Lexmann of the European Parliament and others. Chinese embassy’s caustic remarks in March this year on the French lawmakers proposed visit to Taiwan only led to warnings by the French authorities. The Chinese embassy in France reached its nadir in public relations with its bizarre of Antoine Bondaz of Foundation for Strategic Research as a “smalltime thug” and “mad hyena”.

China’s ambassador to the U.K, Liu Xiaoming as well faced condemnation for his criticism of the parliament members who imposed restrictions on the Huawei 5G telecommunications as well as on the incarceration of scores of people in Hong Kong under the new security law. What surprised many was the sudden spurt of this “wolf warrior” diplomacy even on seasoned Chinese diplomats. Also, public opinion polls across the world have depicted to high levels of disapproval of China’s aggressive policies and on the pandemic that killed over four million people across the globe.

Taking a cue from the widespread global disapproval to this “wolf warrior” diplomacy, China’s President Xi Jinping on May 31 this year in a study session suggested that diplomats should present the image of a “credible, lovable and respectable China” to the world. It of course needs to be seen whether China’s diplomats mend their fences or follow the structural influences of rabid nationalism and revival of the Middle Kingdom.

Pursuing China’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy has its own pitfalls. The carefully cultivated veneer of Chinese civilisational-state ethos, benevolence (wangdao), its doctrine of the Mean on how to use power and influence, winning respect through virtues, harmony without suppressing differences – all appear to be tossed out in pursuit of this aggressive diplomacy. The costs for China are clearly high in front of the international community.

Srikanth Kondapalli

Srikanth Kondapalli is Professor in Chinese Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi