Wolf Warrior diplomacy: Chinese embassy's Aesop fable analogy backfires on Twitter
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Several Twitter users also accused China of wolf warrior diplomacy
A tweet by the Chinese embassy in Ireland in which it used an analogy of Aesop's fable drew criticism on social networking platform Twitter.
The tweet by the embassy lost its meaning in the translation of the author navigated through English allegories to portray Chinese strength.
After reading the tweet several people questioned ''who is the wolf?'' as Aesop's fable of the wolf and the lamb is a story of tyrannical injustice in which the lamb is falsely accused and killed. Several Twitter users also accused China of wolf warrior diplomacy.
Who is his audience with this tweet? First of all, it's his bosses. He needs to show he's working, and he needs to fit the very clearly signaled from the top mood of sarcastic aggression in defense of China this week.
— James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) March 31, 2021
PLOT TWIST https://t.co/PVx8cuUV3b
— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) April 1, 2021
So, to be clear, the West is the Wolf. But China is not a lamb! The west thinks China is a lamb. But China is actually a larger wolf that looks like...a lamb?
— The Relevant Organs (@relevantorgans) April 1, 2021
Shit. That doesn't work. Give us a minute. https://t.co/TlhfUVVTra
China has a pugnacious approach to international affairs, dubbed “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy in both Western and Chinese media, after two popular Chinese movies in which the action hero outguns and outsmarts nefarious US special agents.
It engages in international disputes ranging from fistfights with Taiwanese officials to trade sanctions and threats of conflict, the belligerent and aggressive style of communication of some of its foreign officials has earned it the nickname.
This year was meant to be an important one for Sino-EU ties. Until the virus emerged in Wuhan in December, the EU had started to make progress with Beijing after tense summits in 2016 and 2017 ended without any joint declarations. Last year, the European Commission dubbed China an economic competitor and “systemic rival.”
The last time China policy was discussed by the EU’s 27 envoys in Brussels in March, Ireland’s envoy expressed concern that China’s “huge propaganda machine” may win the narrative on trade, cooperation, and the summit.
Spurred by Xi’s calls for the country to be more imposing, Chinese diplomats have pushed back against criticism of its handling of the outbreak, in every forum from social media to TV, newspaper op-eds, and diplomatic correspondence.
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