Beijing seems unlikely to rein in its aggressive Wolf Warrior diplomats
- The defiant style of diplomacy mirrors Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s personality and policy priorities, analysts and former emissaries say
- ‘In the end, you’re selling your country’s foreign and domestic policies. When the product stinks, there’s only so much you can do’
A recent signal that Chinese Wolf Warrior diplomats should stop baring their fangs is unlikely to cage them for long, if at all, given China’s growing power, arrogance and diplomatic traditions that extend back decades.
That’s the assessment of analysts and former diplomats trying to determine whether an increasingly defiant China will tone down the rhetoric after years of criticising Washington, Brussels, the Group of 7 industrialised countries and Nato, among others.
“I won’t try but I promise to try to try. I think that’s where they are,” said James Green, a research fellow at Georgetown University and former Beijing-based US trade negotiator. “I’m not sure they can get there, or control their muscle memory.”
Wolf Warrior diplomacy, named after two highly successful Rambo-style Chinese films, refers to an aggressive, in-your-face approach to international relations that denounces criticism of China.
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Last month at a Politburo meeting, after years of encouraging Wolf Warriors, President Xi Jinping called for a “trustworthy, lovable and respectable” national image befitting a nation that needs to be “open and confident but also modest and humble”, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
There are several reasons why a major change in the aggressive stance is unlikely, analysts and former diplomats say.