Will China’s calls for more ‘Wolf Warriors’ leave country’s diplomats feeling sheepish?
- The country’s foreign minister and ambassador to Britain have backed the combative approach, but observers warn it may only alienate the rest of the world
- Meanwhile, state-owned tabloid Global Times argues that the label is better applied to US diplomacy
Senior Chinese diplomats have called for more “Wolf Warriors” to defend the country abroad despite warnings that this combative approach was likely to alienate the rest of the world.
On Sunday Foreign Minister Wang Yi defended this combative approach – named after a series of nationalistic action movies – saying that China would fight back against “slanders” and “firmly defend national honour and dignity”.
“We will lay out the truth to counter gratuitous smears and resolutely maintain fairness and justice and conscience,” Wang said.
Wang also insisted that China had no desire to lord it over the world no matter what state of development it reached, saying “those who go out of their way to label China a hegemon are precisely the ones who refuse to let go of their hegemonic status”.
Wang’s comments were echoed by Liu Xiaoming, the outspoken ambassador to Britain, who has previously clashed with TV journalists when defending the country.