Twitter and digital diplomacy: China and COVID-19

Alden, Christopher ORCID: 0000-0001-7033-1655 and Chan, Kenddrick (2021) Twitter and digital diplomacy: China and COVID-19. LSE COVID-19 Blog (09 Jun 2021). Blog Entry.

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• https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/2021/06/...

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has proved to be a critical turning point for China, write Chris Alden and Kenddrick Chan (LSE). Facing increasing global criticism over claims that it intentionally misled the world by covering up the true extent of the coronavirus, China has now sought to actively push back against such criticism. Termed ‘Wolf Warrior’ diplomacy, this pushback has been noted for its propensity to call out and aggressively hit back against perceived criticism against China. Twitter is the platform where this new brand of Chinese diplomacy is most prominent. Data gleamed from the official Twitter accounts of various Chinese embassies and spokespersons reveal that official Chinese Twitter activity has gone into overdrive as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating China’s desire to influence and shape the debate via its new diplomatic strategy.

Item Type:	Online resource (Blog Entry)
Official URL:	https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/covid19/
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	International Relations
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Date Deposited:	17 Aug 2021 14:27
Last Modified:	01 Nov 2024 04:47
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/111114

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