We’re not Wolf Warriors, we’re only standing up for China, says senior official
- Foreign vice-minister Le Yucheng defends the use of what he calls ‘rhetorical tit-for-tat’ in the face of growing international criticism
- He tells conference Beijing has no choice but to fight back against constant ‘nagging’ and ‘insults’ from foreign critics
China’s foreign vice-minister Le Yucheng has defended the use of rhetorical “tit-for-tat” after a string of recent controversies, saying it is a way of “solving the problems of being scolded” by other countries.
He also attacked the use of the term “Wolf Warrior” to criticise the aggressive rhetoric adopted by some Chinese diplomats, equating it to the “China threat theory” and saying it was designed to stop China from fighting back when criticised.
Le told a conference at Renmin University in Beijing on Saturday that it was a “misunderstanding of China’s diplomacy”, adding: “Now that they are coming to our doorstep, interfering in our family affairs, constantly nagging at us, insulting and discrediting us, we have no choice but to firmly defend our national interests and dignity.
“Obviously, ‘Wolf Warrior diplomacy’ is actually another version of the ‘China threat theory’, another ‘discourse trap’ that aims to prevent us from fighting back. I suspect these people [that gave us this label] have not awakened from their dreams 100 years ago,” Le added.
He said China had succeeded in making technological advances and eliminating poverty and it was time for the country to take on its critics.
“As General Secretary Xi Jinping puts it, lagging behind leaves one vulnerable to attacks, poverty makes one suffer hunger and losing discourse gets one scolded. Now that we have solved the first two problems, we must be determined to solve the problem of ‘being scolded’,” he added.