Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Imagine that on Western social media platforms only voices of US and other Western countries could be heard. The narrative worldwide would sound like the following: The US has responded quite well to the COVID-19 epidemic, and Washington really cares about American people's lives since it lowered flags to half-staff to mourn the COVID-19 deaths. Also, Japan's radioactive wastewater is really safe to drink. 

But now, China and some other countries have refuted these lies and clarified the facts. Obviously, the West feels uncomfortable when its lies are exposed. It has thus accused China of being a "wolf warrior" to wantonly smear China.

The latest example? The Financial Times published an article on Wednesday entitled "Do China's 'wolf warrior' diplomats really have any bite?" This was done to question the efficiency of the so-called China's wolf warrior diplomacy. However, is such a gesture of China really ineffective? It has strongly refuted the US and other Western countries' "lie diplomacy" and suppressed the West's violent stigmatization against China.

The key issue that Western countries have deliberately avoided is that a country's diplomatic style often depends on the international environment it faces. There are no accepted rules. Whether it is "wolf warrior diplomacy" or other kinds of diplomacy, they are simply different diplomatic styles. And when facing the smearing by the US-led West, most countries will choose to fight back and clarify the facts. 

Blocking the Twitter accounts of the so-called Chinese "wolf warrior" diplomats shows that these Western social media platforms, which claim to be respecting freedom of speech, has become the US administration's political tool to contain China. In the hands of the US and the West, facts can be manipulated at their will: China's donating COVID-19 vaccines has "ulterior motives," while Japan's dumping wastewater is worthy of thanks.

When the West adopts such "lie diplomacy" and when China is facing such nonsense that has no bottom line, can't China stand up and refute it? Diplomatic styles are often reciprocal. Washington has spared no effort to use the power of the entire government to contain Beijing and even vilifies Beijing with lies. Of course, China will fight back hard to defend itself and safeguard its own national interests as well as justice worldwide.

Otherwise, international public opinion will be completely manipulated by the US-led Western countries. The facts will be twisted. The stigmatization of China will be fixed, and this will even affect China's domestic perceptions of the country. By criticizing the so-called China's wolf warrior diplomacy, the West hopes that China will give in to its scolding and smearing campaigns and ultimately give up the fight.

But the facts will disappoint the West: Such "wolf warrior diplomacy" has yielded positive effects for China, whether at home or abroad. Western countries just hate to admit it. First, such a diplomatic style has been recognized by Chinese people. A Global Times poll held at the end of 2020 indicated that over 70 percent of the respondents believe that "wolf warrior diplomacy" is the right diplomatic attitude that China should take. 

Meanwhile in the international community, Beijing has strongly criticized Washington's bullying and hegemony. Many countries, especially developing ones, have gradually come to realize that some Western countries have hypocritical double standards without any bottom line.

In response to Western stigmatization, China's tough wording and sharp refutations are in line with China's national strength and international status. China can already look at the world on an equal level. What Western countries fear now is that China is on an equal footing with them, and that the so-called China's wolf warrior diplomacy has prevented them from stirring international public opinion. But whether the West admits it or not, this is an inevitable trend of development.