BEIJING - Chinese diplomacy is full of goodwill, but its diplomats will not hesitate to face down adversaries when confronted, Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday, calling the term “wolf warrior diplomacy” a narrative trap.
“In Chinese diplomacy, there is no shortage of kindness and goodwill, but if faced with jackals and wolves, China has no choice but to face them head on,” Mr Qin said, quoting Confucius.
“The so-called ‘wolf warrior’ is a narrative trap. Those who use it either don’t understand China or have hidden agendas,” he said in response to a question from The Straits Times.
The press conference with local and foreign media was his first since taking over as foreign minister on Dec 30.
“When I first went to the US, the media there said that a ‘wolf warrior’ is here, but now that I’m back (in Beijing), they don’t describe me as that any more. I kind of feel at a loss,” he said to laughter from the journalists.
China has in recent years taken on a more assertive style of diplomacy, with its foreign envoys adopting a more confrontational stance on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
The term “wolf warrior” was borrowed from a patriotic movie starring Chinese actor Wu Jing as a maverick soldier who takes out China’s adversaries around the world by any means possible.
Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye, a fluent French speaker, has been known to share hardline views in television interviews. He had been demarched at least twice by the French Foreign Ministry for making “insults and threats”, after he posted a series of tweets targeting French lawmakers and a researcher in reaction to sanctions on China for its actions in Xinjiang.
In October 2022, officials at the Chinese Consulate in Manchester also came under fire after several of them, including then Consul-General Zheng Xiyuan, were filmed beating up a protester and dragging him into consulate grounds. Beijing quietly removed the diplomats in December.
Mr Qin himself helped inaugurate the more acerbic style of diplomacy as a two-time spokesman for the Foreign Ministry. Chinese media called him the spokesman who “likes to counter-attack journalists” when he stepped down from his second term in 2014.
But as China’s envoy to Washington, the Tianjin native successfully promulgated a softer public image, shooting a basket at an NBA game and donning a cowboy hat at a high school.
His term lasted 17 months – the shortest stint yet – before he was recalled to the Chinese capital to serve as foreign minister, an appointment that analysts say could herald a gentler style of diplomacy.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian – known for his aggressive put-downs of other countries – was also redeployed, suggesting China is attempting to regain friends around the world after nearly three years of Covid-19 isolation and increased bilateral tensions.
On Tuesday, Mr Qin took a softer approach when speaking about the American people, differentiating them from American leaders and politicians.
“The American people, like the Chinese people, are enthusiastic, friendly and simple, and they all pursue a happy life and a better world,” he said, referring to a port worker, farmers and a Chinese-language student he met while in the US.
“Whenever I think of them, I think that what determines Sino-US relations should be the common interests, shared responsibilities and friendship of the two peoples, rather than US domestic politics and hysterical neo-McCarthyism.”
