The Chinese ambassador in France has called French scholar Antoine Bondaz a “small-time thug” and “mad hyena” on Twitter in response to criticism about its human rights record.
I don’t think it’s necessary to make a fuss about this as it is not a new thing for Chinese Communist Party (CCP) diplomats to violate procedure and etiquette.
Just like the old saying “Rome was not built in a day,” this incident also has its root.
Western democratic nations have created this issue for themselves. If you keep the gate to your home closed tightly, the wolves cannot get in. If you give it an inch however, it will take a mile.
If democratic nations stand firm to their founding principles based in universal values, they will not be easily manipulated by the CCP’s “wolf warrior” antics.
While the Chinese Embassy in France is throwing around phrases like “small-time thug” and “mad hyena,” this is trivial compared to what may come next.
The CCP could escalate its verbal abuse and humiliate French people and political leaders, causing greater discontent.
If the French government does not take decisive measures now, this will likely eventuate.
The root cause of the problem is that France has no clear idea on how it should approach its relationship with the CCP.
France does not appear to know that it is powerful, nor that the CCP is a rogue regime that has enslaved the Chinese people.
Since the establishment of Franco-China bilateral relations, France has been accustomed to indulging the CCP.
Presidents De Gaulle, Pompidou, Mitterrand, Chirac, Sarkozy, and now Macron, almost none of them stood firm in face of the Chinese regime.
Sarkozy, at least, should be given credit for meeting with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet, despite opposition from the CCP.
Recently, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been acting wildly all over the world, while besieged by the European Union, United States, Canada, and more than 30 other countries over issues like Xinjiang and COVID-19.
In 1900, China was invaded by the Eight-Nation Alliance to put down the Boxer Rebellion. In 1960, China experienced widespread famine after the doomed Great Leap Forward.
Last year was also the Year of Gengzi, the year COVID-19 took over.
The CCP made it through the Year of Gengzi. Yet, instead of the Eight-Nation Alliance, it is now besieged by 30 nations.
Meanwhile, while France suffered tremendously from the outbreak of COVID-19, it’s leaders have been muted in their response. On the contrary, Australia, a large country with a small population in the southern hemisphere, stood up and demanded an independent investigation, which led to trade retaliations from Beijing.
How could French political leaders at the time be so blind as to do such a foolish thing, and cooperate with the devil and open Pandora’s Box to the world?
At this point, the French government should take a look at itself and ask whether it should revise its decades-long policy towards the CCP.
This is the only way to make amends after so many losses. Then, it may not be too late.
