Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says Beijing’s diplomats cannot be expected to roll with every punch
- Wang’s week at the National People’s Congress winds down by fielding a question about Chinese diplomatic corps’ more pugnacious members
As hundreds of members of the overseas press gathered at the National People’s Congress for the choreographed annual gathering, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was asked an unusual question – why had Chinese diplomats not been so diplomatic in recent years?
At a press conference on the fringes of China’s annual political meetings on Friday, Wang addressed concerns that Chinese diplomats had become increasingly bellicose in defending Beijing’s corner against questions about its global influence.
A recent report from Bloomberg highlighted the trend. It said that in the past few months, China’s envoy to Canada publicly accused his hosts of “white supremacy”; its ambassador in Sweden called Swedish police “inhumane” and blasted the country’s “so-called freedom of expression”, while its chief emissary to South Africa said President Donald Trump’s policies were making the United States “the enemy of the whole world”.
Wang joked about the reporter’s “sharp language” and smile as he posed his question. The foreign minister observed that the reporter “would make a good diplomat”.
He then sought to provide assurance by saying that China would not seek hegemony, but stressed that its diplomats would continue to uphold China’s interests.