Almost a year after a fake Twitter account was established in his name, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, has officially joined the American social media site. In a tweet posted just after 6am Washington time on Monday, Cui – using the handle @AmbCuiTiankai – wrote that he has turned to Twitter, which is blocked in his home country, as a way of “engaging with more American people”. I'm pleased to join Twitter and look forward to engaging with more American people. Feel free to follow me and @ChineseEmbinUS to stay looped in. — Cui Tiankai (@AmbCuiTiankai) July 8, 2019 <!--//--><![CDATA[// ><!-- //--><!]]> The Twitter page carries the ambassador’s full name under his photo, the title “Chinese ambassador to the United States” and a link to the embassy’s website. The account attracted more than 700 followers and over 90 “likes” on its first day. Cui Tiankai slams ‘cold warriors’, tells Chinese firms to learn from Americans Some government organisations, such as the Chinese embassy in Canada, have authenticated Twitter accounts, but very few Chinese officials have verified accounts on Twitter, which is blocked in China along with Facebook and other US social media platforms. Google’s email service, Gmail, is also banned in China, although it is popular among Chinese embassy staff when registering for Western social media services and communicating with international journalists. In August 2018, a Twitter account attributed to Cui was abruptly suspended after the embassy said it was fake and warned of legal action. An embassy spokeswoman said at the time that “any unauthenticated accounts are all fake”. The Chinese embassy in Washington also opened a Twitter account on Monday, under the handle @ChineseEmbinUS. “By engaging with the American people on social media, the Embassy hopes to open new flows of communication which will serve as a bridge for deepening the 40 years of friendship between the Chinese and American people,” the embassy said in a statement on its website, adding that it welcomed “people of all ages and backgrounds to follow and engage”.