You may have noticed that whenever China is criticised, their diplomats, who used to be a quiet, subtle bunch, now pop up immediately on the counter-attack. Especially Zhao Lijian, who claimed, erroneously, that the virus may have come from America. Another diplomat, in Venezuela, tweeted people should “shut up and wear a mask” And they’ve threatened to boycott Australian goods for demanding an international investigation into the origins of the virus. Collectively, this new younger cadre of diplomats are known as “Wolf Warriors” and they relish the comparison. Is this new, assertive China a country the rest of the world should embrace, fear or confront?
