China's chest-thumping “Wolf Warrior” approach to diplomacy

[Randy W]

China’s Effort to Tame ‘Wolf Warrior’ Diplomats Is Stymied by Nationalism
Nearing its 100th birthday, the Communist Party struggles to manage a contrast between its popularity at home and its stained reputation abroad

 WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE 
 CHINA

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China’s leadership is straining to dial back its country’s chest-thumping “Wolf Warrior” approach to foreign policy, afraid it has begun to undermine the country’s interests, according to people familiar with the matter.

The effort has been impaired by nationalist fervor in the country, the people said, which is only intensifying as the party marks the 100th anniversary of its founding this week.

The Wolf Warrior ethos—named after a nationalistic Chinese film franchise about a Rambo-like action hero who battles American-led mercenary groups—took hold among China’s previously staid diplomats during the Trump administration as they responded to what Beijing saw as spurious Western attacks on China. Much of the new approach has played out on Twitter, where diplomats have fired off a barrage of barbs, threats and conspiracy theories, many of them targeting the U.S. 

High-level meetings about moderating China’s aggressive diplomacy date to April, motivated by concern that the strategy has alienated the U.S. and other countries in ways that risk isolating the Chinese economy.

The Foreign Ministry is taking steps to pull back on the aggression, including by drafting guidelines for diplomats on the use of Twitter, but officials involved fear that too obvious a softening could incur the wrath of legions of nationalist internet users, who have become a potent force in Chinese politics, according to the people.

The conundrum highlights the difficulty Beijing faces as it navigates the increasing contrast between the Communist Party’s reputation at home and how it is perceived abroad.

 

 

[Randy W]

 

Wolf vs panda: is China at a crossroads over how to spread its global message?

• Media reports censored after professor warned against ‘mirroring internal propaganda in external publicity’, displeasing foreign ministry
• Wolf Warriors have replaced the old ‘panda’ diplomats, but president’s call for ‘credible, lovable and respectable’ style may prompt another shift

 

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“In the early days, we believed [speaking] good English would help [to tell China’s story],” Chu said. “Now, we are able to use fluent and idiomatic English when telling China stories, but our foreign counterparts don’t understand at all.”

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But the newspaper deleted the report from its website the next day, after Chu received warnings from a high level that the Chinese foreign ministry was dismayed, according to a journalist at the newspaper. Neither the newspaper nor Chu responded to requests for comment.

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In his comments at the seminar, Chu said Beijing had spent heavily shaping its international image, but there were three main problems with the messaging.
He said the approach had led to greater conflict and cultural misinterpretation between China and foreign counterparts; and less professionalism in the story told, making it more difficult to properly convey the leadership’s intended meaning to the outside world. There was also global reputational damage from domestic hawkish opinion leaders on social media.

The incident raised concerns about just how much the “peace-loving panda diplomacy” China has adopted over the years is giving way to Wolf Warrior diplomacy – a term derived from a popular patriotic Chinese action film, Wolf Warrior 2, that depicts a tougher approach by its diplomats in handling China’s relations with other nations.