China urged to call off the Wolf Warriors to build ties with US under Joe Biden

The Chinese government should ditch its “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy and reach out to the new Biden administration to shape a more mutually beneficial relationship, a former senior US official has said.

Interactions at the start of a new administration are crucial because they could determine whether the two countries are heading towards conflict or coexistence, said Douglas Paal, former director of American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto ambassador.

But Paal, who is now vice-president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, warned that by keeping up the war of words and failing to try to shape more constructive ties, Beijing risked missing out on a golden opportunity.

“We are not at a good start, it’s not fatal yet. But I would cast doubt. The opportunity at this crucial juncture might be missed,” said Paal, during a webinar held by Centre for Globalisation Hong Kong on Friday.

Both countries have continued military operations near the highly sensitive Taiwan Strait since Joe Biden was sworn in, and the US President described China as America’s “most serious competitor” in his first foreign policy speech.

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Paal urged the Chinese government to seize the initiative to step forward and show they want to deal with these problems.

“My hope had been that with this new administration, we would end this cycle of escalation between Washington and Beijing. Instead, we got old messages from China, like ‘he who tied the knot untie it’. So they are waiting for us to unravel these things. That shows they just don’t know how governments work,” said Paal.

Paal said China had overreacted to former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s frequent criticisms, adding that the back and forth had escalated tensions.

“Pompeo kept saying harsh things to dismantle the Chinese Communist Party, which is a pipe dream, because the US couldn’t dismantle authorities in Iraq, Afghanistan or even Cuba, will the US take China next?” Paal said.

“But China took it too seriously. People like [Chinese foreign ministry spokespersons] Zhao Lijian and Hua Chunying became Wolf Warriors, playing to the audience and acted tough,” he added.

Paal said it was time for China to think about changing its approach, arguing there was no need for Wolf Warrior diplomacy – named after a popular series of nationalistic action movies – since Biden’s inauguration last month.

He said “we should also explore ways to dismantle the mess left by Trump”, suggesting that the two sides should work to reopen the consulates in Houston and Chengdu that were shut last year, revive student exchanges, restart the Fulbright programme, review investment deals and end tariffs. However he warned that China seems to be “stuck in a rut”.

Paal suggested that Chinese President Xi Jinping choose someone he really trusts to come to the US and begin a quiet dialogue with the new administration to push relations forward.

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The new administration has already made critical statements about China’s actions in Xinjiang, where it is accused of detaining a million mainly Uygur Muslims in re-education camps, and offered early signs of support to Taiwan, including an unprecedented invitation for the island’s representative in Washington Hsiao Bi-khim to attend Biden’s inauguration.

However, Paal said people should not read too much into Hsiao’s invitation because Taiwan representatives have usually attended the ceremony as part of a delegation from Taipei that had been invited by Congress – but it was not possible to do so this year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Officials from the Biden administration have signalled that China will be a central theme in its foreign policy, while Beijing has said it wanted to establish communication with Washington.

China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi said on Tuesday that the US under Donald Trump had followed “misguided policies”, and called on the new administration to change course. Other Chinese diplomats have said the US should not perceive China as an enemy.