Wolf warrior diplomacy, new weapon in geoeconomics

 Den Xiaoping had the policy of “hiding strength till the right time emerges and until then avoid controversy by working behind the scene using cooperative and conciliatory rhetoric”. After Xi Jinping took charge, there has to be quantum shift. Now China has grown in politics, military and geoeconomics. Enter the Dragon this time as “Wolf Warrior Diplomacy”.

There is no precise definition for this fine art of Chinese deception. On the one hand China has plethora of stratagems summarised as “36 Stratagem”. On the other they have invented a new style of interaction. Chinese diplomats are encouraged to showcase confrontational attitude, rebuking even mild criticism, rebutting accusation as false, putting the blame squarely on the person originating it, levelling charges and finally courting new controversies that could sap the energy of the originator.

A front liner behind this thesis is none other than Lijian Zhao, a master of arts in wolf warrior diplomacy who holds the twin position of Chief Spokesperson and Deputy Director General of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. The suave bespectacled, Lijian cannot be easily beaten by journalists even the best of the Main Stream Media when it comes to facts and figures. His foray on geoeconomics is startling even to through bred professionals in geoeconomics!

His punchlines could be devastating, so to speak, as he describes himself in his Twitter profile broadcasting one liner “This is the time for facts, not fear”. With almost a million followers, his twitter handle @zlj517 is a remarkable store of stories that have been buried in the sand by the West headed by USA. Here are three such recent stories that merit attention and further reflection:

1. The Floyd case reveals only a tip of the racism iceberg in the US. According to Stop AAPI Hate, 6,600+ hate incidents have been reported across the US since COVID-19 broke out.

2. Statistics of industry associations are even more alarming. According to relevant reports, there are about 500,000 child farmworkers in the US. Many start working up to 72 hours a week, or 10+ hours per day from as young as 8.

3. If US really wants full and transparent investigation on Coronavirus origins, it should invite World Health Organization experts into their country, as China has done, and open Fort Detrick base ASAP and disclose detailed data on unexplained respiratory illnesses in July 2019. This one is a quote from Wang Yi foreign minister of China!

I for one, wonder what USA has got to say. I only see a pall of silence pervading in US quarters.

 

Cheers!

 

Muthu Ashraff Rajulu

Business Strategist

Mobile: + 94 777 265677

E-mail:   cosmicgems@gmail.com

Blog:   Business Strategist