Why China’s Diplomats Snarl at ‘Wolf Warrior’ Label

China’s diplomats used to joke about receiving calcium tablets from compatriots wanting them to show more backbone. Not so much these days. A new group of “wolf warriors” has been taking on foreign leaders and journalists in verbal skirmishes. While Chinese officials disavow the term, they say the country has a right to defend itself when “others make a show of their strength at our doorstep, meddle in our affairs and constantly insult and discredit us,” as one top diplomat put it. The assertiveness fits with President Xi Jinping’s mantra about restoring China to its historical greatness, though recent comments from him have some wondering if he thinks his diplomats may have gone too far. The rhetoric also highlights the increasingly combative nature of the relationship between China and the U.S.

It was the title of a 2015 Chinese movie (and a blockbuster 2017 sequel) about a patriotic, Rambo-like soldier who battles foreign mercenaries in far-off places to protect civilians and China’s honor. Exactly who first applied the term to foreign service officers is hard to pin down, but the BBC’s Chinese-language service used it in coverage of a heated July 2019 Twitter exchange between a senior Chinese diplomat, Zhao Lijian, and former U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice about alleged racial segregation in Washington, D.C. The Communist Party’s hawkish Global Times newspaper began using it soon after in glowing coverage of the “resolute attitudes” of some of China’s top diplomats, who garnered legions of fans on social media. The term later gained currency as a Western critique of China’s strident responses to foreign criticism related to human rights and the Covid-19 pandemic.