China’s diplomatic rhetoric has become considerably more assertive over the last years, peaking with the rise of Wolf Warrior diplomacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spearheaded by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Zhao Lijian, a group of Chinese diplomats have been pushing back firmly against international criticism of China on topics including human rights and the origins of COVID-19, among others. Taking to social media, Chinese diplomats have increasingly begun to criticise the US’s role in the world as well as domestic politics across Western democracies.

What are the origins of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy and how successful has it been to date? What are its consequences for China’s growing international engagement going forward? Following the publication of Peter Martin’s book, China’s Civilian Army: The Making of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy, LSE IDEAS' China Foresight project hosts a webinar to analyse the evolution of Chinese diplomacy and its global implications.

Meet the speakers

Peter Martin is Bloomberg's defense policy and intelligence reporter in Washington, DC and author of China's Civilian Army: The Making of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy. He was previously based in Beijing where he wrote extensively on escalating tensions in the US-China relationship and reported from China's border with North Korea and its far-western region of Xinjiang. His writing has been published by outlets including Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, the National Interest, and The Guardian. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford, Peking University and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Astrid Nordin holds the Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations in the Lau China Institute. Astrid’s research develops critical conceptual tools that draw on Chinese and other global traditions of thought, and uses these to understand planetary challenges as they relate to China’s growing global role.

Meet the chair

William A. Callahan is professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research examines the interplay of culture and politics, and visual global politics. Callahan’s most recent book is Sensible Politics: Visualizing International Relations (Oxford University Press, 2020). His other work includes China: The Pessoptimist Nation (OUP, 2010) and the documentary film “Great Walls” (2020), which asks why we hate Trump’s wall and love the Great Wall of China.

Event hashtag: #LSEChina

LSE IDEAS (@lseideas) is LSE's foreign policy think tank. Through sustained engagement with policymakers and opinion-formers, IDEAS provides a forum that informs policy debate and connects academic research with the practice of diplomacy and strategy.

The event image used, "Xi Jinping at the EP" by European Parliament, is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.