Diplomatic Terrorism of Wolf Warrior

People’s Republic of China was established after the Chinese Revolution in 1949 with Mao Zedong as a de facto head and Zhou Enlai as a premier. Mao was aggressive when it comes to foreign relations and international politics. Mao did not compromise his claim over Formosa island (Taiwan). Even in 1949, if any country wanted to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China it was mandatory for them to cut ties with the Republic of China (Taiwan) and its leader Chiang Kai-shek.

Mao’s successor Deng Xiaoping followed a liberal approach in Diplomatic forums. It was Deng who liberalized not just the diplomatic approach but also some economic parameters. He established firm relations in China. Altogether his methods were good for China as a whole and made it rich.

Fast forward to 2013 when the son of Chinese Communist veteran Xi Zhongxun, Xi Jinping became President of China after taking over as a General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and Chairman of the Central Military Commission in 2012. When Mr. Xi took over China was already the world’s 2nd largest economy after the US.

Under Xi Jinping, CCP is promoting a quintessential narrative that explains the paradigm shift in China’s policies. That narrative is Mao Zedong led the Chinese people to stand up after a century of humiliation; Deng Xiaoping made them rich; Xi Jinping is now destined to turn China into the world’s strongest nation under his watch.

Many geopolitical experts believe that Xi Jinping leaning backward and is dragging China into the era of Mao Zedong. We can notice this on multiple fronts be it economical, military, or diplomacy.

If you are following Chinese affairs you’ll already know how China uses the money to influence governments and institutions around the world to shape political and economic outcomes to their advantage. Diplomacy is not immune to it either.

Wolf warrior diplomacy, a term coined from the Chinese film Wolf Warrior 2 describes an aggressive style of diplomacy adopted by Chinese diplomats in the 21st century under Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s administration.

In 2019 Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gathered together his country’s envoys for a pep talk, telling them they needed to be more assertive in representing Beijing’s interests overseas and vocal in defending the Chinese Communist government from criticism. This shows a dynamic shift in the tone of Chinese Diplomats from the era of Deng Xiaoping.

A well-known expert John Seaman from the French Institute explains this as follows, “China’s public diplomacy has gone into overdrive. It appears well-coordinated, with varying degrees of dogmatism, divisiveness, and moderation.”

One of the first features of this so-called wolf warrior diplomacy is playing the victim card. Our diplomats especially in the UN have faced this many times, China claims to be bullied by western nations and justifies its aggressive behavior.

It is very hard for any professional diplomat to deal with a Chinese diplomat, not because he is good at his job but because the Chinese are highly unprofessional they are not career diplomats, they may be industrialists or military veterans, or any person who is faithful to CCP. You’ve heard right they are not diplomats of PRC but of CCP.

In shorter terms, they are servants of the Chinese Communist Party without any professional skillset. That is the reason you’ve probably heard Chinese diplomats targeting western democratic models and promoting Chinese modal as a Democracy with Chinese Characteristics. This is nothing but a hoax.

It is well-known fact that China fears any military confrontation or war with any country. The CCP uses political and diplomatic engagement and deception to gain control and expand China’s spheres of influence without going to war.

China views politics and diplomacy as the battlefield. The CCP uses guile, cunning, bribery, and bargaining to achieve desired outcomes.

For more than 2 decades China has fooled America on the economic front and now it is about to surpass US’s economy in PPP terms by 2030. At the same times China’s diplomats stronger their ground in international organizations like WHO, UNHRC, etc.

China has mastered the quality to influence the influencer, we can see the example in the case of BRI and most recently in Afghanistan. We all have seen how Wang Yi welcomed the Talibani delegation.

Whether it’s America or India both have not learned anything from their mistakes, on the contrary, both accept China as a potential threat in the Indo-Pacific region and around the globe but they are yet to take any firm actions.

It is a need of the hour that the US accepts that China is an emerging superpower and she has to do everything to counter China’s influence around the globe.