{"id":50036842,"date":"2020-08-11T14:17:14","date_gmt":"2020-08-11T13:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage.dialogochino.net\/?p=36842"},"modified":"2023-03-13T21:11:03","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T21:11:03","slug":"36666-chinas-tweeting-ambassador-inches-closer-to-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/business\/36666-chinas-tweeting-ambassador-inches-closer-to-venezuela\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s tweeting ambassador inches closer to Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cPut on a face mask and keep quiet!\u201d The phrase uttered on March 19 by the Chinese ambassador in Caracas, Li Baorong, to members of the Venezuelan opposition was unusual. Li was responding to deputies calling Covid-19 \u201cthe China coronavirus\u201d and rounded off an official statement published<\/a> both on the Chinese embassy\u2019s website and on its official Twitter feed.<\/p>\n

Li\u2019s behaviour in the last three months has been atypical. Traditionally pragmatic<\/a> and vague, the old discourse of Chinese diplomats seems to have gone out of the window lately, hinting that China might be backtracking on its hereto ambiguous stance on Venezuela\u2019s severe political, economic and humanitarian crisis. This is despite being its main creditor<\/a> and second largest trade partner.<\/p>\n

Now, the top Chinese official in Caracas is becoming more conciliatory towards Nicol\u00e1s Maduro\u2019s government, from which China seemed to have distanced itself as longstanding debts went unpaid, oil shipments were grounded, several cases of corruption emerged and Chinese and Venezuelan oil executives were arrested.<\/p>\n

Venezuela has been a polarising case internationally and China has long stood out as one of the few countries trying to appear neutral. However, Li\u2019s new, more assertive Twitter voice is part of a trend<\/a> among Chinese diplomats in Latin America that has emerged in response to China-blaming over the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

The tweeting diplomat<\/h2>\n

\u201cIt seems that they have some teachers in the United States, because they already know how to attack China without any foundation\u201d, Li said about the Venezuelan opposition in an interview<\/a> published by the Venezuelan Centre for China Studies\u2019 (CVEC) blog on March 17.<\/p>\n

In that interview, Li categorically rejected opposition deputies\u2019 requests to approve Taiwan\u2019s admission to the World Health Organization and their accusations that Beijing had hidden the true extent of the virus in China. He then adopted a more conciliatory tone, recommending that \u201cthey should not be used by people with bad intentions and should not defy the One China principle [that considers Taiwan part of China]\u201d.<\/p>\n

The ambassador has been most vocal in lauding the six shipments of medical supplies and groups of experts sent by Beijing to Venezuela to respond to the pandemic \u2013 a move dubbed \u201cfacemask diplomacy<\/a>\u201d. But he has also offered support for the policies and actions of the Nicolas Maduro administration.<\/p>\n

China strongly supports the efforts made by the Venezuelan government to guarantee health and save lives despite the most severe and criminal unilateral sanctions<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On his account<\/a>, which he opened in August 2016 whilst still ambassador to Chile, and which carries a bold looking avatar adorned with dark glasses, Li posts few original tweets, compared to the external links he posts or his many \u201cretweets\u201d.<\/p>\n

Among the local accounts he most supports are the official television station, Venezolana de Televisi\u00f3n<\/em>, and the television programme headed by Diosdado Cabello, a prominent \u2018Chavista\u2019 and the president of the National Constituent Assembly. He also shares posts by various Venezuelan civil and military organisations, several ministers, and the vice and foreign ministries.<\/p>\n

Li also retweets institutionally unaffiliated pro-Maduro Twitter accounts. He disseminates web pages from La Tabla<\/em> or Misi\u00f3n Verdad<\/em>, that are government-aligned but not officially connected. According to the Venezuelan Press and Society Institute, Misi\u00f3n Verdad<\/em> distributes<\/a> pro-Maduro propaganda<\/a> whilst posing as a fact verification website.<\/p>\n

Along with Li, there are at least three other Chinese ambassadors in Latin America that are prolific on Twitter. They are led by Wei Quiang, in Panama, who has 15,400 followers. The ambassadors to Brazil, the Dominican Republic and El Salvador make up China\u2019s other so-called \u201cwolf warriors\u201d around the world. They aim to counteract the \u201cpolitical virus\u201d they say emanates from the US and impedes international efforts to tackle the pandemic.<\/p>\n

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17\/17 COVID-19, China apoya y seguir\u00e1 apoyando a Venezuela y la comunidad internacional dentro de nuestro alcance. En este momento crucial del combate contra COVID-19, sugerimos que algunas personas tambi\u00e9n tomen en serio el \u201cvirus pol\u00edtico\u201d. Como ya est\u00e1n muy enfermos de esto,<\/p>\n

\u2014 Embajada de China en Venezuela (@Emb_ChinaVen) March 18, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n