Is it a course correction to cooperation with the international community gasping for predicament?
(Kaori Fukushima: Journalist)
Synthesis of online hoaxes such as “The new coronavirus was brought to China from Fort Detrick (a US Army medical research facility) in the United States,” and Australian soldiers pointing bloody knives at children. Zhao Lijian, the spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “Wolf Warrior Diplomacy” who has been criticized and despised by the West for tweeting photos, has been suddenly demoted.
On January 9, according to Chinese media reports, Zhao Lijian had already been transferred to the position of deputy director of the Frontiers and Maritime Affairs Bureau instead of deputy spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Frontiers and Maritime Affairs Bureau is in charge of demarcation of borders and maritime boundaries, surveys, and negotiations related to cooperative activities.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ main career paths are the North American and Oceanian Bureau, the European Bureau, the Asian Bureau, the Protocol Bureau, and the Press Bureau. Why was Cho Lijian, who served the elite course for nearly three years, transferred to such a frontier department? Considering his age of 50, he will never have another chance to return to the mainstream of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A blunder at a press conference broadcast to the world
The other day, when I was asked about the reason why a popular diplomat with 1.9 million Twitter followers and a symbol of Xi Jinping’s wolf-warrior diplomacy was demoted, I was immediately asked, I answered that it may be because my ability is low compared to previous press secretaries.
Since my days as a reporter in Beijing, I have seen responses from numerous press secretaries, some of whom I have exchanged words with directly. Power and instantaneous power left an impression on me. What’s more, when you meet them personally, everyone is gentle and polite.