Is China out to weaken Marcos?

Chinese diplomats in Manila have transformed themselves into wolves. Last December, they took off their suits, showed their fangs, and snarled every time they didn’t like what they heard: that international law is on our side. It’s unsettling, even infuriating — and it looks like this will continue, who knows, until when.

Check out the Chinese embassy’s page on Facebook, and you’ll get the drift. Here are some examples:

• To some in the armed forces: “A word of advice to relevant individuals in the Philippines: immediately stop making provocations and stop confusing right and wrong, or they will pay the price for what they did.” 
• To Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea: “…as a uniformed service member in the PCG, you should spend more time saving lives at sea than selling anti-China narratives on social media.”
•  To Senator Risa Hontiveros: “Are you really advocating the interest of the Philippines and the Filipinos? Or are you simply pursuing your own political gains?…. What you’re doing is political theatre…” 
• To Senator Erwin Tulfo: “If you don’t understand diplomacy… take the time to understand what are the public exchanges REALLY about. Otherwise you risk becoming a source of ridicule.”

‘Wolf warrior’ diplomacy

Welcome to a new chapter in our diplomatic relations with China marked by unrelenting insults and tirades on social media. While many parts of the world, especially in the West, experienced Beijing’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy in recent years, from 2019 to 2021, the wave has just reached us.

This combative type of diplomacy takes its name from a 2017 blockbuster movie, Wolf Warrior 2, the highest-grossing film in Chinese history at the time. The hero is a Chinese Rambo-type former soldier who goes to an unnamed war-torn African country to rescue Chinese citizens. Armed only with a crossbow, he takes on African mercenaries and kills their boss, an American. These were his angry words to the American before sending him to his grave: “People like you will always be inferior to people like me.” 

How did “wolf warrior” diplomacy evolve?

It has its roots in tensions in the South China Sea, buttressed by a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that China’s nine-dash line claim was without legal basis. Thus, “wolf warrior” diplomacy was a way to demonstrate resolve to both external and domestic audiences that China was serious about defending its interests, Chong Ja Ian, who teaches China’s foreign policy at the National University of Singapore, told Al Jazeera. 

At the time, China spared us its bellicose rhetoric — even if we were the country that defeated it in court — because Rodrigo Duterte, who was the president then, pursued a policy of appeasement.  So, here we are, 10 years later, being drenched in China’s badass language as Duterte’s successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., shifted towards the West and adopted a transparency policy to let the world know of Beijing’s aggressive incursions in the West Philippine Sea. 

Political context

China’s vitriol comes at this time, seeing an opening in our domestic politics. While the transparency policy began in 2023, it took at least two years for China to find its moment.  

Marcos faces trouble at home, engulfed by a huge corruption scandal which has reached his doorstep, slowing down the economy, and pushing his ratings down — while his rival, Vice President Sara Duterte — is enjoying better numbers. And, as we know, Duterte is a friend of China, and 2028 is not far away.

Another factor is the Philippines’ chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations: Marcos has said that he would want the ASEAN-China Code of Conduct concluded on his watch and for President Xi Jinping to visit Manila. I wrote last year that this could lead to precarious diplomacy with Manila aiming to appease China.  

So, what better time for Beijing to dig in, ushered in by a new ambassador, Jing Quan, who is setting a new tone.

Uniforms vs suits

It’s been just a few weeks since the onslaught of China’s insults and, already, we’ve seen the difference in responses by government agencies. This is palpable when you read the statements of the National Security Council (NSC), the Department of National Defense (DND), the National Maritime Council (NMC), and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). 

The NSC’s and DND’s are strongly worded while the NMC and the DFA are somewhat muted, calling for restraint. Of all the statements, it was the NSC that went beyond the Chinese embassy’s attacks on individuals, saying that these have a “broader impact on Philippine institutions.” We’re seeing this play out. Instead of closing ranks, reminding themselves that China is the adversary, these government agencies are focused on finessing rhetoric. 

Indeed, China’s intent to divide the government is working. 

Moreover, look at the asymmetry in both countries’ actions. Beijing summoned our ambassador to protest the PCG spokesperson’s remarks while Manila simply made “firm representations” with the Chinese embassy over its wolfish statements.

Bad for China

Let’s zoom out a bit and see how “wolf warrior” diplomacy fared in other countries. 

The Economist came up with a “wolf warrior” index which showed that since mid-2022, the aggressive rhetoric has steadily fallen and in the beginning of 2025, the Chinese foreign ministry’s language had “softened to levels of cordiality not seen in the past six years…” It’s because their confrontational diplomacy caused blowback, “soured relations with Australia and the EU, among others. Globally, public opinion on China tanked.”

In the Philippines, China is among the least trusted countries. A Pulse Asia survey last December showed that only one in 10 Filipinos said they trust China, or a rating of 11%. Compare this to the US (82%), Japan (64%), Canada (58%), and Australia (51%), the top countries Filipinos trust.

With their pugnacious rhetoric, China should realize that they are alienating Filipinos even more.

Let me know what you think. Email me at marites.vitug@rappler.com.

Till next newsletter!