Vilification of China's diplomacy not acceptable

With some Western politicians and media outlets baselessly blaming China for the novel coronavirus outbreak, the external pressure on the country has increased.

Although the Chinese government has given a resolute and measured response to such accusations, some Western leaders and media outlets have labeled China's normal diplomatic discourse as "wolf warrior diplomacy" while trying to stigmatize the country's diplomats for defending China's national interests and Chinese people's dignity. For example, some of them have accused Chinese diplomats of "being in a rush" to indulge in a "war of words" and "making trouble", and thus putting "China in a more isolated state".

The accusation that China's "wolf warrior diplomacy" has isolated it in the international community is contrary to facts. China has largely contained the spread of the virus at home. It has also maintained close contact and cooperation with Russia and a number of other countries in Central Asia, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America, sharing with them information on the virus and helping them fight the outbreak. China has provided medical supplies to more than 150 countries and international organizations, sent 19 medical teams to 17 countries, and shared with the international community its experiences in preventing and controlling the spread of the virus, and its diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients. Many foreign political leaders, experts and media outlets believe that China's epidemic prevention and control measures have been effective.

By contrast, those Western leaders who are criticizing China have not been able to curb the spread of the coronavirus in their own countries.

The accusation that Chinese diplomats have rushed to exchange a war of words and create trouble reminds people of the Chinese folk saying, "prefectural officials are allowed to set fire, but ordinary people are not allowed to even light lamps". Long before the "war of words" started between China and the United States, some US politicians had publicly referred to the novel coronavirus as the "Wuhan virus" on various occasions and claimed the source of the virus is Wuhan by repeatedly using the phrase in their speeches.

Some US media outlets even said "the Chinese need (to issue) a formal apology for COVID-19", and "the outbreak started in China because Chinese love to eat bats and snakes". The best response to such baseless claims came from The Lancet, a leading international medical journal, which published a statement signed by 27 prominent public health scientists from eight countries rejecting the hypothesis that the novel coronavirus is man-made and other conspiracy theories.

China initially ignored the groundless accusations, and instead focused on fighting the virus at home while maintaining close communication with the World Health Organization and some other countries, so as to fulfill its international obligations as a responsible major country. The Western politicians and media outlets should know that if they continue to insult the Chinese people and repeatedly attack China, the country will not accept it lying down.

If the reasonable and restrained rebuttals by Chinese diplomats to the ridiculous claims are being vilified, and they are being labeled "wolf warrior diplomats", then how does one describe the attempts made by some US politicians to smear China without any evidence? China does not practice so-called wolf warrior diplomacy, but its diplomats are capable of fighting the "wolves" that are polluting international relations.

The author is an associate research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.