Chinese diplomat hurls insults at Trudeau
Part of new `wolf warriors' poking western leaders
A Chinese consul general in Brazil has derided Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a “running dog” of the U.S. whose only accomplishment is to ruin friendly relations with China, the latest example of Beijing's combative new “wolf-warrior” brand of diplomacy.
Li Yang, based in Rio de Janeiro, also referred to Trudeau as “boy” and a spendthrift in an apparent retort to Canada's recent Uyghur-related sanctions against China.
The tweet was written in English on a platform that's banned in Li's home country, suggesting the remarks were directed at neither Chinese nor Brazilian citizens.
“Boy, your greatest achievement is to have ruined the friendly relations between China and Canada, and have turned Canada into a running dog of the US.,” scoffed Li on the Twitter social media platform. “Spendthrift!!!”
Running dog is a pejorative Chinese term for lackeys of a more powerful, often evil force, made popular by Mao Zedong during the early years of the country's Communist government.
By Monday afternoon, the message had earned 3,000 likes.
“This is a very unfortunate and unnecessary tweet,” said Zhiqun Zhu, an international relations professor at Pennsylvania's Bucknell University. “Insulting leaders of other countries is not a thing a diplomat should do. It is not only undiplomatic, but also against China's own culture of being polite and respectful.”
More and more Chinese diplomats, though, seem to be following the wolf-warrior approach, even competing with each other to be the boldest, said Zhu.
Had the post been issued by a diplomat based in Canada, it could have been grounds for declaring the individual persona non grata and sending him or her home, said Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat in Beijing.
The fact Li is based in another country gives him cover of sorts, but his remarks were undoubtedly approved by highers-up in the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said the Macdonald Laurier Institute fellow.
“Those are fighting words, and lack specificity,” said Burton. “They're not explaining what it is that Mr. Trudeau has done to ruin the friendly relations. `Greatest achievement' could be some kind of dig at him.”
The jab might have been meant to contrast the current prime minister with his father, said Burton. Chinese Communist Party leaders have often claimed that Pierre Trudeau's greatest achievement was making Canada one of the world's first nations to recognize China's government after the revolution, he said.
Tensions between the countries, already at a historically high level, ratcheted up recently after Canada joined the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States in sanctioning Chinese officials over the widely documented repression of China's Uyghur minority.
Beijing responded last week by similarly imposing sanctions on Conservative MP Michael Chong — who had instigated a House of Commons motion declaring the treatment of Uyghurs a genocide — and a Commons subcommittee.
Asked for comment on the tweet, Trudeau's office referred to remarks the prime minister made earlier Monday, touting Canada's efforts to defend human rights in Xinjiang province, where most Uyghurs live.
Chinese diplomacy was once characterized by a more circumspect approach, with difficult conversations taking place behind closed doors.
But the more confrontational wolf-warrior style, which alludes to the titles of Chinese action movies about special forces operators, has come to the fore in the past couple of years, partly a reflection of China's more aggressive, nationalistic stance on the world stage.
Some within the Chinese foreign-policy establishment argue it's necessary to defend the country's national interests, and the style seems to be encouraged by top leadership, said Zhu.
But the strategy has backfired and actually hurt China's international image, he said.
“China is shooting itself in the foot by encouraging such a confrontational style of diplomacy,” the professor argued. “When China's image suffers, one knows that this type of diplomacy is problematic.”
The French government last week called China's ambassador to Paris in for discussions over tweets that attacked French lawmakers and labelled a think tank analyst critical of Beijing a “small-time hoodlum” and “crazed hyena.”
The embassy also warned French politicians against meeting with government officials on a planned visit to Taiwan.