wolf warrior
English
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]Calque from Chinese 戰狼／战狼 (zhànláng), taken from the movie Wolf Warrior 2.
Noun
[edit]wolf warrior (plural wolf warriors)
- (neologism) A Chinese diplomat perceived to respond aggressively towards criticism of Communist China.
- wolf-warrior diplomacy
- 2020 February 24, Lu Bohua, “Diplomat Zhao Lijian takes over as spokesperson with 240,000 followers”, in China Times[1]:
- 著名大陸外交官網紅、有戰狼外交官之稱的外交部新聞司副司長趙立堅正式接任發言人工作 ... 據《環球時報》報導，趙立堅此前在大陸媒體的知名度不高，但他在海外社交媒體推特上算是知名網紅。此前，作為大陸駐巴基斯坦使館臨時代辦的趙立堅，在推特上開設有個人帳號，多次就大陸外交問題做出強硬回應與澄清，目前擁有推特粉絲超過24萬人。(English translation by Google Translate: Zhao Lijian, deputy director of the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a well-known mainland diplomat and Internet celebrity, known as the Wolf Warrior Diplomat, officially took over the spokesperson's job... According to the Global Times, Zhao Lijian was not well-known in mainland media before, but he is considered a well-known Internet celebrity on the overseas social media Twitter. Previously, Zhao Lijian, who served as the charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan, opened a personal account on Twitter and made tough responses and clarifications on mainland diplomatic issues many times. He currently has more than 240,000 Twitter followers.)
- 2020 May 6, Jamie Dettmer, “China's 'Wolf Warrior' Diplomacy Prompts International Backlash”, in Voice of America[2]:
- Nicknamed by the media “wolf warriors” — after a blockbuster movie in which Chinese special forces vanquish American mercenaries in Africa and Asia — China’s envoys seem determined to break with older traditions of China’s more discreet diplomacy... The Chinese people, the Global Times said, “are no longer satisfied with a flaccid diplomatic tone,” adding that China has not abandoned Deng Xiaoping’s guiding principle for diplomacy — “hide your strength, bide your time.” The newspaper said: “The ‘Wolf Warrior’ style of diplomacy doesn't contradict this principle, it's just less subtle.”
- 2020 May 12, Kathrin Hille, “‘Wolf warrior’ diplomats reveal China’s ambitions”, in Financial Times[3], archived from the original on 2020-07-03:
- China’s “wolf warrior” diplomats — named after a set of films in which Chinese special-operations fighters defeat western-led mercenaries — have emerged over the past three years. But the virus has pushed their combative tactics to the centre of Beijing’s foreign policy approach.
- 2022, Axel Berkofsky, Giulia Sciorati, editors, China’s Foreign Policies Today: Who is in Charge of What[4], Ledizioni, →ISBN:
- Wolf-warrior diplomacy is a manifestation of Xi's effort to shift toward assertive diplomacy away from the low-profile diplomacy engineered by Deng and practised by Presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.