A 'wolf warrior' is sidelined, as China softens its approach on the world stage

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/12/ [login to see] /china-diplomacy-wolf-warrior-zhao-lijian
As a foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian was one of the most prominent official voices of the Chinese government for the past three years. He was also the unofficial poster-child for "wolf warrior diplomacy" — a sharp-tongued, combative approach that brought the rhetorical fight to China's critics and rivals.

No more.

This week, Zhao was assigned a new job: deputy director of the ministry's Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs. It's a lateral move to an obscure post that takes Zhao out of the spotlight.

The Foreign Ministry did not explain the shift, but some analysts think it is the latest in a series of tactical tweaks that China has been making to ease friction with other countries and soften its image on the global stage.

The changes come as Beijing wrestles with some of its biggest and most disruptive domestic challenges in decades.

So-called "zero-COVID" policies, in place for three years, kept the pandemic at bay, but created widespread public resentment and smothered China's economy. Over the past month, authorities have unwound those policies, but in doing so unleashed a tsunami of COVID cases now overwhelming hospitals and crematoriums.