China’s wolf warriors: How the continent that gave birth to diplomacy lacks the means to respond
China’s wolf warriors: How the continent that gave birth to diplomacy lacks means to respond
WRITTEN BY SARI ARHO HAVRÉN
7 July 2021
Xi Jinping’s one-hour long speech on 1 July 2021 at the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) marked yet another signpost for China’s ‘wolf warriors’ to carry on with their increasingly aggressive style of diplomacy. Diplomatically it is uncommon, even outré, for a nation’s leader to publicly threaten “anyone who dares to try [bully, oppress or subjugate]” will “find their heads bashed bloody against a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people”.
Four years earlier, in December 2017, Xi Jinping called on his diplomatic envoys to "resolutely safeguard China’s interests and national dignity” and promote “a new model of international relations”. Five months later, Xi noted the importance of pursuing a broader diplomatic agenda in the country’s foreign affairs and ensuring that the “major initiatives are delivered as planned”. He also emphasised that China’s core interests — domestic stability, sovereignty and economic development — should never be compromised.
Soon after these calls, the wolf warriors took their positions only to insist later that their change of tone was simply an answer to the rhetoric from Donald Trump’s White House rather than a new approach in China’s international relations. Regardless of this straw man defence, the wolf warriors have become synonymous with outspoken, assertive, even belligerent Chinese diplomats, who have broken the long tradition of well-credentialed, well-informed and sophisticated Chinese officials. Contemporary Chinese diplomatic warriors spread a flamboyantly nationalistic narrative mixing it with fake news and even doctored images ensuring that the message echoes loudly back to Beijing.
Is the EU defending its values or contributing to Chinese ones?
Despite German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron’s relatively soft approach towards Beijing, the relationship between China and the European Union and its member states has been deteriorating. Since April 2020, France has twice summoned the Chinese ambassador over “unacceptable” behaviour, which included insults and threats directed at a French researcher and lawmakers. In April 2021, after a Swedish journalist was threatened by the Chinese ambassador in Sweden, some politicians demanded the ambassador be expelled. Around the same time, Beijing also responded with a heavy hand to the EU’s moderate sanctions over Xinjiang claiming that the EU’s sanctions were based on lies and disinformation, severely undermining China-EU relations. The Chinese foreign ministry threatened the EU against going down the wrong path, warning that “China will resolutely make further reactions”.
The question is not how wolf warriors behave but whether behind the noise European policymakers understand Beijing’s grand plan, and what it means for maintaining fundamental European values.
China’s new style of diplomacy has gradually made Europeans realise that regardless of the geographic distance and therefore not posing an immediate military risk, China has deliberately challenged European core values. The European Union and its member states have been built on fundamental rights such as human dignity and human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. These values form the basis of the European way of life and are more or less in conflict with the increasing control exerted by the Chinese Communist Party on all aspects of Chinese society, and the Party elite’s unwavering belief that the CCP has developed a superior system of governance to that of flawed democracies. Europe's open societies with their democratic structures have therefore become especially vulnerable to China’s hybrid influencing, lacking effective preparedness and an ability to counter the eventual threats.
Not only have China’s wolf warriors left Europeans feeling incredulous but, to some extent, they have also been successful in exerting influence. The new situation has revealed just how effective Beijing has been in influencing how EU officials behave in diplomatic exchanges with their Chinese counterparts. Max Roger Taylor, who has researched the EU’s values in dialogues with China, points out how the European Union has started systematically neglecting its values when dealing with China: “The European Commission and EEAS officials revealed that value mainstreaming was rarely taking place in practice, in any form”. According to Roger Taylor’s research, the main barrier to this non-existent practice was China’s “anticipated obstructive response”. By only advocating its values in specific dialogues, such as human rights, and keeping these separate from other dialogues such as trade, where the bloc has real leverage, the European Union is in fact serving Beijing’s objectives and not its own.
European hopes for dialogue are met with lecturing
The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement of Investment (CAI) is a major recent example of how the EU has neglected its values, and just how differently Beijing perceived the investment deal. While lacking adequate provisions to uphold human rights, the European Commission representatives worked hard to sell the investment deal to Europeans emphasising the benefits of trade and market access. Beijing on the other hand primarily assessed the benefits as political. The Chinese Foreign Ministry officials had on multiple occasions opposed the EU’s decision to define China as a "systemic rival”. After signing the deal, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi described the EU and China as “comprehensive strategic partners, not systemic rivals". Moreover, Wang put into words the assumption of many analysts that one of Beijing’s clear objectives behind the CAI was to pull the EU closer into its orbit, and in particular, to disrupt the possibility of a closer transatlantic alliance and possibly an alliance of democracies. After the CAI was agreed in principle, Wang Yi also said in an interview that China and the EU should jointly advocate multilateralism and “must be dedicated to unity and cooperation rather than ‘group politics’ ”.
At this year’s Munich Security Conference, Wang Yi chose to lecture European parties on what they are doing wrong instead of allowing a discussion to take place. Alongside the EU’s strained relationship with China, room to discuss issues considered controversial has narrowed significantly and Beijing has labelled those who raise concerns as “running dogs” of the United States and are left to face threats and insults. Europe’s soft voices urging the importance of dialogue are left questioning what can be achieved when acquiescing to China’s demands appears to be the only remaining choice.
Wolf warriors are likely here to stay — So what?
Xi Jinping has been giving mixed messages. Barely a month before his centennial speech commemorating the CCP, Xi confused the international audience by calling his wolf warriors to act as more lovable and respectable among China’s international friends. Few took this at face value, especially after realising how bullish nationalist fervour has become in China. Given the almost megalomaniacal sentiment of the CCP in its centennial ecstasy, it is inconceivable that China will become more forthcoming or compromising in the international arena. In safeguarding the country’s core interests — sovereignty, national security, and development interests — China and her diplomats will remain bold and on the defensive, and, likely also publicly so. Likewise, China’s ‘development interests’ provide its wolf warriors broad guidelines to defend against anything that confronts Beijing’s grand plan; thereby not only challenging but also moulding the international order to mirror China’s aims. The question is not how wolf warriors behave but whether behind the noise European policymakers understand Beijing’s grand plan, and what it means for maintaining fundamental European values.
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent that of the 9DASHLINE.com platform.
Author biography
Dr. Sari Arho Havrén is a European China Policy Fellow at the Mercator Institute of China Studies, MERICS in Berlin, and a visiting researcher at the University of Helsinki focusing on international relations, especially during the Cold War period and on geopolitical future analyses in Asia Pacific. She has been living and working in China over a decade and in Asia Pacific close to 15 years. She has a PhD in international relations and she is a certified futurist. Image credit: Wikipedia.