Wolf Warrior Diplomacy and Its Implications for US-China-Taiwan Relations

• In Event: Foreign Policies and Their Effectiveness: Case of East Asia and Beyond

Abstract

Over the past decade, under the leadership of Xi Jinping, China has become more confident and assertive. In addition to being openly confrontational on territorial issues, especially in the South China Sea, China has extended its assertiveness into various realms and produced the so called “wolf warrior diplomacy.” The purpose of this paper is to observe China’s wolf warrior diplomacy and its implications for US-China-Taiwan relations. The authors point out that in the process of realizing wolf warrior diplomacy, China generates misconceptions and misinformation that implicate US-China-Taiwan relations. Misinformation is communicated through the discourse of state media, political elites, social media and online forum. The various channels jointly construct a narrative of a declining US and vilify pro-democracy activists in Taiwan. This paper is carried out in five parts. Part one reviews wolf warrior diplomacy and its practice in recent years. Part two examines the narrative constructed from wolf warrior diplomacy. Parts three and four observe the respective implications of China’s assertiveness for the US and Taiwan and the latter’s counter narrative and practice. Part five concludes with a consideration for the prospects of US-China-Taiwan relations in the near future.

Authors

• Tony Tai-Ting Liu, National Chung Hsing University

• Ming-Te Hung, Institute for National Defense and Security Research