SEOUL, South Korea | China’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy has come back to bite Beijing again.
The South Korean government has given China’s ambassador to Seoul a dressing-down following remarks he made during a meeting with the leader of the opposition party.
The diplomat’s comments are just the latest in a string of undiplomatic remarks made by Beijing’s envoys in recent years that have raised eyebrows in Canberra, Manila and Tokyo. The brazen style of communication offering a sharp defense of Chinese national interest has earned Chinese diplomats the nickname “wolf warriors.”
In the latest incident, Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming was summoned by South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin on Friday, following the Chinese diplomat’s dinner meeting with Lee Jae-myung, who heads the leftist Democratic Party of Korea, on Thursday.
According to the Yonhap news agency, Mr. Chang “sternly warned” the ambassador for his “unreasonable and provocative” remarks, saying they could be construed as interference in domestic politics. The conservative government of President Yoon Suk Yeol has generally taken a harder line on China — and moved closer to Washington — than the previous administration in Seoul.
During his meeting with Mr. Lee, Mr. Xing had suggested that South Korea and China should join hands to confront Japan over its handling of the Fukushima nuclear plant, devastated by a tsunami a decade ago. Japan’s plan to release coolant water from its shuttered plant into the Pacific has sparked unease and demands for transparency across the region.
While Japan and the U.N. watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency say the water, which is being treated before being released, is safe, there are major concerns around the issue, particularly in neighboring South Korea.
Mr. Lee and his party are outspoken on the Fukushima issue and are fiercely critical of Mr. Yoon’s signature foreign policy initiative, which is improving long-strained relations with Japan. The policy has received strong support from the United States, which seeks to upgrade trilateral defense cooperation with its two key regional allies against China and North Korea.
Wading into the South Korean domestic dispute, Mr. Xing also warned South Korea not to lean too heavily toward the United States.
“China-Korea relations have been facing external challenges,” he told Mr. Lee. “While the U.S. is increasing pressure on China, some bet the U.S. wins and China loses. But this is a wrong judgment.”
During Mr. Yoon’s summit with President Biden in Washington in April, Seoul was granted a voice in U.S. nuclear weapon deployments and potential usage on the long-divided peninsula, in return for a commitment not to seek its own nuclear weapons arsenal — a policy polls say many South Koreans would support.
The agreement was reached in a year in which the two capitals are celebrating the 70th year of their alliance, which was sealed following the close of the Korean War in 1953, when both countries fought against Chinese forces.
China was not backing down following the South Korean protests. At a regular Foreign Ministry briefing Friday, spokesman Wang Wenbin said any stresses in the South Korean-Chinese bilateral relations were not Beijing’s fault and that the ambassador was only doing his job in meeting with the opposition leader as well as with government officials.
Enter the ‘Wolf Warriors’
Amid tense relations with the U.S., Chinese diplomacy under President Xi Jinping has been characterized by an unvarnished, unapologetic defense of Chinese nationalism and Chinese rights — even when the blunt talk has proven counterproductive.
“Chinese officials have more openly expressed controversial thoughts, often with negative ramifications for bilateral relations with other countries,” noted a 2021 essay by the National Bureau of Asia Research, analyzing what it called a “shift” in Chinese diplomatic practice. “During the COVID-19 pandemic, this behavior has become known as ‘wolf warrior diplomacy.’”
The term “wolf warriors” was borrowed from a Rambo-esque Chinese action-movie franchise. Earlier this year, there were signs that the Xi government could be pulling back from the more aggressive approach, following a string of Foreign Ministry personnel moves. Most notably, prominent Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, one of the most outspoken and caustic of the wolf warriors, was shifted in January to a far less visible post in the department that manages the country’s land and sea borders.
But last week’s dust-up in Seoul was just the latest in a string of brouhahas sparked around the region by Chinese diplomats in recent months.
In April, China’s ambassador to the Philippines, Huang Xilian, discussing Manila’s plan to grant U.S. troops more basing sites in the country, appeared to be making a veiled threat about the safety of some 150,000 Philippine workers in Taiwan.
“How dare he threaten us,” said Senator Risa Hontiveros, who characterized his statements as “disgraceful.” “He has no business being a diplomat if he is unable to engage with us in a respectful and dignified manner.”
Beijing’s Australian envoy has also sparked controversy while criticizing warming ties between Japan and Australia. In January, Amb. Xiao Qian informed surprised Australians that Japan had “invaded” Australia, and warned them that “history might repeat itself.”
In May, the ambassador held a press conference in which he criticized the new AUKUS defense partnership between Australia, the U.K. and the U.S., saying the alliance is “not a good idea itself – and the nuclear submarine is an even worse one.”
And Japan, the most critical U.S. ally in the region, has been the target of some undiplomatic broadsides from China’s very top diplomat.
“Should some people from the Japanese side choose the beggar-thy-neighbor approach rather than a friendly partnership and take part in a new Cold War to contain China, bilateral relations will only suffer new wounds when the old ones are yet to be healed,” Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, formerly his country’s ambassador to the United States, told a press conference in Beijing on May 7.
The “old wounds” were a reference to Japanese atrocities committed during World War ii.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
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