-
Advertisement
US-China relations
OpinionLetters

Letters | China’s ‘wolf warrior’ envoys just playing to a nationalist gallery

Reading Time:1 minute
Why you can trust SCMP
State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrives for a press conference on China’s foreign policy and foreign relations via video link, on the sidelines of the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 24. Wang has defended the country’s combative “wolf warrior” diplomacy in combating “smears”. Photo: Xinhua
Letters
I am writing in response to Andrei Lungu’s “Death of diplomacy” (May 15). Mr Lungu’s observation on the palpable recent assertiveness of China’s envoys in diplomatic circles around the world struck a chord with many China observers.

The assertiveness of these “wolf warriors” is a visible departure from the softer but firm style employed by their predecessors.

Clearly, times have changed and we are living in an interesting period in geopolitical terms, as some observers have raised the possibility of a tectonic shift from the West to East. It is also clear that such new-found exuberance has rattled some nerves in many corridors of power around the world, although the impact is noticeably negative.

The wolf warriors’ pushy approach has probably aided the narratives of China hawks in the US government, such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House adviser Peter Navarro, rather than improved the soft power of a rising China.

Advertisement
Is this more than a sign of individuals bettering their career prospects? Or is such exuberance, as Mr Lungu contended, a reflection of the Chinese government’s effort “to put on a nationalist show for audiences at home”?

That would be the most plausible cause.

Advertisement

T.C. Wang, North Point

Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x