FBI director Christopher Wray making his mark as a loud and insistent China critic
- Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party outlet, fires back after Wray says China tries to ‘steal its way up the economic ladder’
- The remarks are only the latest in a long string of criticisms by Wray, a growing leader in US security community
“Vulgar”, “arrogant”, “mentally challenged”, a “low-life”. Ask Chinese state media for an assessment of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s director Christopher Wray, and the response will be less than flattering.
Wray’s scathing critique last week of what he called China’s attempts to “steal its way up the economic ladder” at the United States’ expense – “stealing innovation in any way it can, from a wide array of businesses, universities and organisations” – quickly drew fire from nationalist voices across the Pacific.
An editorial by the reliably provocative Global Times, which is published by Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily, led the charge.
Wray’s accusation, made at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in Washington on April 26, displayed an “undisguised contempt for the whole of Chinese society” and threatened to lead US understanding of China “into the gutter”, the editorial said.
“People like Wray emanate the kind of vulgarity shown by history’s career low-lifes. That vulgarity floods the US administration today.”
The FBI director now joins a growing list of figures in US President Donald Trump’s orbit to draw attacks from Chinese state media, as Washington takes a harsher stance towards Beijing amid a rapid downturn of relations.
