Shift in policy to wife's social media posts: Why China demoted 'wolf warrior' foreign ministry diplomat Zhao Lijian

Jan 11, 2023 - 21:30

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Shift in policy to wife's social media posts: Why China demoted 'wolf warrior' foreign ministry diplomat Zhao Lijian

Combative. Spreading propaganda and disinformation. Making controversial remarks that can sever ties between two nations.

These are not attributes you will associate with a diplomat. But in China, these are the very traits that can help an official rise up the ranks.

Zhao Lijian who was until this month the spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry became synonymous with this kind of diplomacy popularly known as “wolf warrior” diplomacy.

Named after an eponymous Chinese action movie, wolf warrior diplomacy has become a hallmark of president Xi Jinping’s administration.

It is marked by a combative and rhetorical approach to foreign policy.

However, things seem to have taken a turn after Zhao was transferred from the foreign ministry to the boundary department where he will be overseeing matters related to China’s land and maritime borders.

Now, many experts have interpreted this transfer as a “demotion.” The boundary department is not insignificant but Zhao will seize to be in the limelight, unlike his previous role in which he regularly held press briefings.

According to reports, Zhao is one of three deputies in his new department.

His transfer coincides with Qin Gang taking over as China’s new foreign minister. It’s widely speculated that the wolf warrior diplomacy did not go hand in hand with Qin’s less belligerent approach to the West.

Speaking of belligerence, during his tenure as the foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao’s antics triggered a massive diplomatic spat between China and Australia.

In 2020, Zhao shared a morphed illustration of an Australian soldier killing an Afghan child. This came after Australian Defence Force conducted a probe and found that its troops had killed 39 civilians in Afghanistan.

Then-Australian PM Scott Morrison demanded an apology from Beijing which the latter refused to do so.

But Zhao’s theatrics predate his appointment as the foreign ministry spokesperson.

In 2019, former US president Barack Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice called Zhao a “racist disgrace” over his tweet about American race relations. The tweet by Zhao is unavailable now.

Zhao became the foreign ministry spokesperson a year later.

During his stint in Pakistan, the diplomat gained prominence due to his combative statements on Twitter- a site that is banned in China.

Some experts have warned against reading too much between the lines.

According to reports, Zhao’s wife Tang Tianru travelled to Germany when China was under strict COVID curbs. Pictures of the trip triggered a massive outrage on social media.

According to US journalist Bill Bishop, she made the situation worse for Zhao when in December 2022 she posted on Chinese social media that COVID-positive Zhao was unable to get medicines.

seeing lots of speculation that qin gang behind the demotion of zhao lijian as part of a shift to softer foreign policy positioning. maybe, but there may be other reasons too, as discussed in yesterday’s sinocism https://t.co/GhMWy46fzH pic.twitter.com/5JwBKwKDyP
— Bill Bishop (@niubi) January 10, 2023

Then comes, Zhao’s own troubles. In November 2022, he was caught off guard when asked about the protests in China against coronavirus curbs, during a press conference.

chinese foreign ministry spokesperson zhao lijian censoring himself before the ccp can
w/ incredibly awkward silence when asked about xi’s zero covid policy + protests in china pic.twitter.com/VrGOe3MfDi
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) November 29, 2022