France is making it on the sorry list of targets of China’s « wolf warrior diplomacy », with the Chinese Embassy posting insulting articles backed by fake news and authored by an anonymous diplomat. Why? Quick thread https://twitter.com/AmbassadeChine/status/1249270545784455170

The text perpetuates the lie accusing the Taiwanese government of racist comments towards the WHO director general. It suggests that such alleged racism may have been endorsed by 80 French parliamentarians (through a sneaky play with grammar) https://twitter.com/AntoineBondaz/status/1249599448554057728

It then wrongly accuses the staff of French retirement homes to have quit their jobs overnight and let old people die of #COVID19 which is an incredible accusation on one of the most sensitive and tragic aspects of the coronavirus crisis in France.

Is the Embassy risking damage to relations with France for the sake of ideological correctness and career advancement, as this analys of Hua Chunying's call for "fighting spirit" suggests? Most certainly a factor, but two other possibilities https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3079493/china-wants-its-diplomats-show-more-fighting-spirit-it-may-not

1. The belief that there is a populist audience in France to capture. I doubt that those blaming the government for a slow reaction to #Covid_19 will see China as a lighthouse rather than one of the sources of their problem. But this would need to be backed by quantitative data

2. The best defense is attack. China is trying to escape the blame that inaction in Dec/Jan is one of the root causes of #Covid_19 . Taiwan is praised for a more efficient reaction. The outcome: a diplomatic style that integrates the aggressiveness of China's Taiwan policy