Will China have to muzzle its Wolf Warrior diplomats after ambassador to France’s Ukraine faux pas?
- Diplomatic insiders say Beijing was taken aback by the scale of the backlash after Lu Shaye questioned the sovereignty of former Soviet republics
- Some observers believe the comments reflect a strain of thought inside the government but Lu may have been speaking out of turn when he made them
Beijing was taken aback by the uproar across Europe triggered by ambassador Lu Shaye’s comments that those countries had “no effective status in international law”, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
Several incumbent and former Chinese diplomats said Lu’s comments during an interview with French news channel LCI last week, amounted to “a diplomatic accident” and had cast China in a bad light.
The incident has also exposed Beijing’s dilemma in managing its senior diplomats, according to government insiders and analysts, especially when the leadership wants to promote a “fighting spirit” among its envoys.
One former diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “Pending a full assessment of its impact, it may be necessary to keep a tighter control of senior envoys, at least for the time being.”
The comments came soon after Beijing began a charm offensive designed to woo European leaders and create distance between Europe and the United States.
China has also been actively promoting itself as a peace mediator in Ukraine, but the comments, and growing scrutiny of its close ties with Russia – especially after President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow and meeting with Vladimir Putin last month – have heightened European suspicions of Beijing’s true motives.