Darren Cheong

Darren Cheong

Research Associate, Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute

Darren Cheong is a research associate with the Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme at ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

The keywords used by Chinese officials in social media with regards to Southeast Asia are different from those used towards the West. (ISEAS)

Polite 'wolves': China’s soft Twitter diplomacy in Southeast Asia

China's diplomats have gained fame on Western social media platforms for their strident "wolf warrior" discourse. But the strategy is not applied uniformly across all countries. In fact, they have taken a more polite tone towards Southeast Asian countries. This is seen most obviously on Twitter, where key officials and spokespersons in China have shown contrasting styles and choice of words depending on the target audience.