As for the "smell of gunpowder" emitted by himself, Lu Shaye explained it this way: "In traditional Chinese culture, Chinese always say, do your own thing well, and don't care what others say. But that doesn't work in today's world. Even if you do a good job in all aspects, you can't stand others from splashing dirty water and destroying what you have done. ”
China's "wolf warrior diplomacy" has once again been hyped up by the Western media, this time probably because "too many 'mad dogs' are too fierce."
Recently, Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye was besieged by some French parliamentarians and the media.
The French Foreign Ministry fired continuously at the Chinese side on the China issue, and Foreign Minister Le Dreyon sent two tweets in a row saying that he wanted to "summon" Lu Shaye and convey France's political position to him.
In this regard, the Chinese Embassy in France responded domineeringly: I am not free today, and I will talk about it tomorrow.
Even when it came to the face-to-face talks, Lu Shaye was not humble and solemnly demanded that the other side stop "poisoning Sino-French relations." A look in a word, all vividly show the diplomatic style of a big country.
In diplomatic occasions, Lu Shaye always has a serious look and a bright eye, as if he is "waiting for an opportunity." In the face of the malicious serious injuries or arrogant habits of the anti-China forces in the West, he was never polite, either writing articles to refute them or openly "retaliating with a tooth." Because of this, domineering and hardcore have become words often used by some Western media when writing about him.
"Mad Dogs" and "Wolves"
The controversy was initially sparked by an incident last month.
At that time, Alain Richard, chairman of the "Taiwan Exchange and Research Group" of the French Senate, was preparing for this summer's "Parliamentary Visit to Taiwan Delegation" under the pretext of "drawing on epidemic prevention experience."
Alain Richard
When Lu Shaye learned of the plan from the French Senate website, he immediately wrote to Richard asking for the trip to be canceled.
In the letter, Lu Shaye solemnly stated to Richard that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China, and that such an act by the French side will send the wrong political signal to the "Taiwan independence" forces, and the Chinese side demands that the French side adhere to the one-China principle.
The Position of the Chinese Government on the Taiwan issue is consistent and clear, that is, it opposes any form of official exchanges between countries that have established diplomatic relations with China and the Taiwan authorities. French senators, as public officials of official French institutions, should abide by this principle.
Richard ignored this completely. According to the French media "Letter A", Richard was very dissatisfied with the contents of Lushaye's letter and refused his request.
After the news broke, on March 19, Antoine Bondaz, an anti-China scholar in France, said that "this is China's intervention in French democracy" and accused Lushaye, as a diplomat, of not having the right to point fingers at French officials.
Not only that, but Bundaz also ridiculed the Chinese embassy on Twitter, speaking in a tone that did not resemble that of a scholar at all.
Bondaz, who has always liked to make a splash on the Internet, seems to have found another opportunity to rub the heat and brush up on the existence of China's affairs.
In the face of such blatant provocation and smear, the Chinese Embassy posted Bondaz's tweet on Twitter and described him as a "little hooligan."
The Chinese Embassy in France called Bondaz a "little hooligan."
In response to the Chinese Embassy's counterattack, some French media completely ignored the incident they provoked first, accused China of not respecting the "freedom of speech" of French scholars, and launched a verbal attack on the Chinese Embassy and Lu Shaye himself, saying that China's diplomacy was "rough in style" and "wolf-war diplomacy."
In the face of these groundless criticisms and smears, the Chinese Embassy responded on the 21st that "if there is really a 'wolf warrior', it must be because there are too many 'mad dogs' and too fierce." The next day, the Chinese government imposed sanctions on the EU side, including Lexman, a French member of the European Parliament, who seriously undermined China's sovereignty and interests and maliciously disseminated lies and false information.
This time France seems to have found a reason for "positive provocation". On the same day, the French Foreign Ministry issued a press release called "China". The draft described China's response as "insulting, inciting and threatening French researchers and French parliamentarians," glorifying French provocations and disrespect as "academic and freedom of speech," and saying that it would "summon" Lu Shaye to convey France's position to him.
Compared with the angry jumping feet of the French side, the Chinese Embassy in France only calmly replied: The ambassador is not available today, and tomorrow he will go to the French Foreign Ministry for negotiations.
The Chinese side refused the unreasonable request to "summon" and instead went to "make representations" on its own. Zhu Lian, a researcher on China at the French Institute of International Relations, said that it can be seen that the change in wording and the anti-customer-oriented attitude behind this can be seen.
On the morning of the 23rd, Lu Shaye went to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for representations, and the atmosphere at the scene was tense. Ambassador Lu Shaye solemnly demanded that the French side immediately stop "poisoning Sino-French relations."
Lu Shaye also pointed out that there was a case of fraudulent use of diplomatic titles and license plates at the representative office in Taipei, France, and the French side should immediately correct the relevant errors. Wu Zhizhong of the representative office in Taipei, France, has always claimed to be an "ambassador" and his vehicles have diplomatic license plates. Lu Shaye has repeatedly protested against the French side in this regard, but the French side has been perfunctory.
It is worth mentioning that during the negotiation process, Lu Shaye did not use the fluent French he usually used, but used Chinese throughout the process.
"Gunpowder smell" and "splash dirty water"
Lu Shaye, 56, was born in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. From the fourth grade of primary school to high school, he studied French at the school of Chinese outside Nanjing, and his language foundation was very solid.
In July 2019, after serving as China's ambassador to Canada for two years, Lu Shaye was officially appointed ambassador to France.
Lu Shaye has repeatedly and domineeringly countered the vicious remarks of the West and resolutely defended the dignity of the motherland.
During his tenure as China's ambassador to Canada, he attributed Meng Wanzhou's arrest to a "sense of white superiority" and sharply pointed out that some Western forces arrogantly adopted double standards toward China and acted as a mockery and trampling on the rule of law – when the Chinese side demanded the release of Ms. Meng Wanzhou, Canada argued that it was "judicial independence"; but when its own citizens were detained in China on suspicion of violating the law, they arbitrarily demanded that the Chinese side "release her immediately.".
From 2009 to 2016, Lu Shaye served as director of the Africa Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during which time he often clarified facts and clarified his position on African issues.
In an exclusive interview in 2011, Lu Shaye criticized western smears of China's "support for African dictatorships." He said that a Middle Eastern strongman who was killed in political turmoil "is not a friend of China, but on the contrary, he is a guest of honor of many Western leaders, and the relationship is good."
During his tenure as director of the Africa Department, Lu Shaye repeatedly accused the West of falsely claiming that "China is practicing neocolonialism in Africa" without factual basis. He stressed that the positioning of China-Africa relations is a new type of strategic partnership, and China will not interfere in the internal affairs of African countries.
He also often published high-profile articles in direct opposition to the attacks of Western public opinion.
In response to the "China collapse theory" once set off by the Western media, Lu Shaye wrote an article pointing out that the reason why the "China collapse theory" has repeatedly "collapsed" is because the people who make such remarks only start from Western economic books to "set" China's economic reality. There are also some people who look at China's economy with political thinking, and such a "China collapse theory" is often just their subjective imagination. "As the world's second largest economy, China's economic performance plays a decisive role in the development of the world economy. We should still hope that China's economy will improve, and if it really collapses, it will not benefit anyone. ”
When the new crown pneumonia epidemic first broke out, the French RMC TV asked Lu Shaye: "Trump has publicly claimed that China has lied recently, and the number of deaths in China is much higher than the official data." Is this true? Is China hiding it? Lu Shaye asked directly, "What is the death toll he wants in China?!" ”
In the ensuing answers, he continued to "attack the spear of the Son with the spear of the Son."
"In an interview with the Financial Times, President Macron said, 'Obviously something is happening in China that we don't know, how are you responding to that?'" "Because the system is different, one country can't know everything that's going on in other countries. President Macron said, 'Something happened in China that we don't know,' and in the same way we can say we don't know everything that happened in France, which has to be said by the French government. ”
As for the "smell of gunpowder" that he emits, Lu Shaye explained it this way: "In traditional Chinese culture, Chinese always say, do your own thing well, and don't care what others say. But that doesn't work in today's world. Even if you do a good job in all aspects, you can't stand others from splashing dirty water and destroying what you have done. "Foreign media continue to smear China, and China must strengthen communication with foreign countries."
Knives and forks and chopsticks
In the eyes of the Western media, Lu Shaye is domineering and hardcore. However, this is only his "tit-for-tat" side to hostile attacks.
Outside of the verbal and sword-and-sword struggle, Lu Shaye, as a messenger, smiled relaxedly and friendly.
During his stay in France, he and his wife Wang Liwen walked through the fields of Novo-Aquitaine and Occitany regions of France, and exchanged cordially with local farmers; when he visited the ancient castles in the Central-Loire Valley region of France, he was amazed by the humanistic and historical heritage contained in them; when he gave a speech at the Paris Institute of Science, Lu Shaye also calmly, frankly and deeply communicated with the participating students, and enhanced the French students' understanding of China in a friendly atmosphere.
Luschaye and his wife visit the Central-Loire Valley region of France.
In 2019, Lu Shaye attended the acceptance ceremony of the art donation at the Chinese Embassy in Canada.
Lu Shaye was hospitable in his life, often inviting French friends to the embassy to eat Chinese food, and he also taught these French friends to learn to use chopsticks. However, when Lu Shaye visits a Friend's house in France, he will also respect the other party's eating habits and choose to use a knife and fork.
"Just from the matter of eating, we can draw a truth, that is, 'each is beautiful, the beauty of beauty, the beauty of the united', Chinese use chopsticks, Westerners use knives and forks, and the difference between the two sides is not good or bad." Everyone adheres to their own strengths, while respecting and appreciating the strengths of others, learning from each other's strengths and making progress together. Instead, we should not stubbornly think that what we have is good, and others are not good, and even ask others to learn from themselves and do it according to their own appearance. ”
The same applies to diplomacy.
As an important representative of the civilizations of the East and the West, the ancient French nation and the long-established Chinese nation appreciate each other and learn from each other. Both countries have a sense of self-identity as a "great nation", and the people are very sensitive to the ups and downs of their respective national fortunes, and should continue to strengthen communication and coordinated development.
However, in reality, there are always some forces that go against the tide.
"The use of filters by Western media to report on China is not conducive to mutual understanding and cooperation between China and the West, nor is it in line with the current and long-term interests of Western countries themselves." China and the West have different historical cultures, stages of development, and social systems, and should learn from each other's strong points and make progress together. Lu Shaye said that the different paths for China and the West to achieve modernization are due to their cultural differences, which should not negate each other, but should learn from each other.
Lu Shaye's greatest desire at present is that China-France relations can "do more in the post-epidemic era, lead China-EU relations to achieve greater development in the new era, and make greater contributions to world peace, stability and prosperity."
Column Editor-in-Chief: Gu Wanquan Text Editor: Dong Siyun Title Image Source: Visual China Infographic Photo Editor: Xiang Jianying
Source: Author: Jintai Huanhuan