CHINA’S WOLF WARRIOR DIPLOMACY

1.CONTEXT

China has taken a tough approach in its international dealings, employing a style that has come to be known as “wolf warrior “diplomacy.

2.ABOUT WOLF WARRIOR DIPLOMACY

This turn in Chinese foreign policy has been slowly building since 2008–09 and accelerated after Xi Jinping came to office in 2012–13. After the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese diplomats fell under attack but were also proud of the way that their country handled the crisis. The new mixture of confidence and increasing insecurity combined to create what we now call wolf-warrior diplomacy.

Chinese diplomats believe they have been under great pressure for many years, have been constantly lectured by the United States and others about the rights and wrongs of the Communist system, and have been historically looked down upon by the Western world.

3.MEANING OF WOLF WARRIOR

It is an unofficial term for the aggressive and confrontational style of communication that Chinese diplomats use around the world.

This strategy is the effect of the following things-

• Xi’s authoritarian tendencies as compared to earlier leaders
• The sharp deterioration of US-China relations that started under former President Donald Trump
• Coronavirus pandemic-related accusations against China.

4.EVOLUTION OF WOLF WARRIOR STRATEGY

•  Since 2010, when China's GDP overtook Japan as the world's second-largest, the Chinese have become more confident and China's foreign policy has become more assertive, gradually departing from Deng Xiaoping’s taoguang yanghui dictum.
•  As the Communist Party continues to promote “four confidences”— in our chosen path, in our political system, in our guiding theories, and our culture nationalism has been on the rise. “Wolf-warrior diplomacy” is an extension of soaring nationalism at home.
• In recent years, President Xi Jinping has advocated “a fighting spirit" on several occasions, whether speaking to soldiers or party officials. This has raised the morale of Chinese officials and diplomats and encouraged a more assertive style.
• “Wolf-warrior diplomacy” is evidenced not only in combative words but aggressive actions. For example,  a Chinese coastguard ship allegedly sank a Vietnamese fishing trawler near the Paracel Islands. When Vietnam protested, the Chinese foreign ministry responded by saying Vietnam’s claims to the area are “illegal.”
•  Then on April 19, the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly announced the naming of 80 islands, reefs, seamounts, shoals, and ridges in the South China Sea, triggering angry protests from other claimants. The last time China named islands and other geographical features in the South China Sea was in 1983.

5.CHINA CLAIMS

• China says that they are simply standing up to what they believe is undue western interference.
• They consider it as safeguarding the interests of the country, if any country infringes upon China's judicial sovereignty, China must resolutely fight back, which is the bottom line of China's diplomacy.
• They are fighting for China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, national dignity and honour, and international fairness and justice.

6.CHINA’S WOLF WARRIOR VERSUS CHINA’S PEACEFUL RISE

•  Many people in China's foreign policy establishment would say these two concepts are contradictory.
• The idea of the peaceful rise was developed when China's economy began to grow very rapidly and its military power was increasing.
• Chinese leaders wanted to reassure the outside world that their intentions were peaceful and that China's rise would not mean major disruptions to the international system or pose a systemic threat to the liberal international order
• Xi Jinping is far more focused on the idea that China's system is successful, and that the Chinese Communist Party should not have to apologize for the way the country works.
• When China is not given the respect Chinese officials and top diplomats believe it should receive, there will be a backlash.

7.WILL CHINA CHANGE ITS POLICY

1. Many Chinese diplomats are aware that the response to wolf warrior diplomacy has been very negative and damaged China's interests in a wide range of cases.
2. However, as during previous periods of assertive diplomacy from China, the primary audience is domestic politicians. Therefore, the reaction of foreigners and outsiders is not a top motivator for Chinese diplomats.
3. There have also been times, nonetheless, when China was more diplomatically isolated and the behaviour of its diplomats undermined its international reputation
4. Xi Jinping indicated in his remarks over the summer to the Politburo study session that China needed to work harder to cultivate a lovable and trustworthy image.
5. However, there is not much evidence indicating that the specific tactics involved in wolf warrior diplomacy would be addressed and recalibrated in the short term.

Source: indianexpress