Under Xi Jinping, China’s diplomats have abandoned charm for an aggressive approach called “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy, with envoys taking to Twitter to insult their host countries or threaten trade war against governments that criticize China. Named after a 2017 action blockbuster featuring a Chinese Rambo shooting up foreign bad guys in Africa, the pugnacious diplomacy has been directed at countries as distinct as Sweden, Venezuela and India — and appears to be getting the same reviews as the movie. Wolf Warrior won awards inside China, but foreign critics cringed at what they described as “heavy-handed flag-waving,” “jingoistic jubilance,” and “unintentionally amusing” dialog.
