This archive report was first published on 14 January 2020.
On January 14, 2020, China's foreign ministry took to Twitter, marking a significant shift in the country's diplomatic approach. The move has drawn comparisons to US President Donald Trump's prolific tweeting, with Beijing seeking to engage with a global audience and promote its policies.
Chinese diplomats have been active on Twitter for months, with over a dozen ambassadors and consuls general opening accounts. They have adopted a style far removed from traditional diplomatic reserve, posting artistic selfies, quoting Western poetry, and defending beleaguered Chinese telco giant Huawei.
The foreign ministry's Twitter presence has been met with a mixed response. While some have praised the informal and sometimes confrontational tone, others have criticized it as mere propaganda. The ministry's tweets have been peppered with sarcastic 'LOLs', exclamation marks, and hashtags, with one tweet accusing critics of preferring lies to authoritative information.
Senior ministry official Zhao Lijian was involved in an online spat with Susan Rice, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, who called him 'a racist disgrace' after he tweeted claims of racial discrimination in Washington.
Analysts say the social media push comes as China is under increasing international pressure over its mass detention of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, while a trade war with the United States rages on.
Chinese officials and media have long struggled to convincingly spread their message to a global audience, said Yuan Zeng, a media lecturer at the University of Leeds in Britain. The 'pressing demand for a more efficient way to let out China's voice' has led to the adoption of social media platforms like Twitter.
Beijing's ambassador to Nepal, Hou Yanqi, has built an online fanbase with stylish and carefully framed photographs of herself, shot against the backdrop of traditional Nepalese architecture. However, replies to the foreign ministry's tweets are rife with scorn and derision, often accompanied by news reports documenting China's repressive policies and satirical cartoons critical of Beijing.
