China diplomat Wang Yi’s deft touch with a tie wins online praise

Wang – China’s top diplomat and foreign policy chief – quickly won praise online for the class and respect on display in the video, which had close to a million views and 28,000 likes, as of Monday afternoon.

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One user on video-sharing app TikTok said Wang and his team’s reaction “only demonstrates their humility and true statesmanship”. “Can’t imagine the US doing this,” the user wrote.

Others called Wang a “refined gentleman” and lauded the Chinese government for knowing how to maintain diplomatic ties with other nations.

Video clips of the scene were also circulated on Chinese microblogging site Weibo, where users made similarly positive comments about Wang. “This is how a great power should act,” one comment read.

Tan Haojun, a former city-level official from the Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, said the exchange indicated the close relationship between the two foreign ministers and reflected the harmonious state of ties between the countries.

“It is not difficult to see from Wang’s improvisation that he is a witty, seasoned diplomat. With his clever [reaction], what could have been an awkward scene became very harmonious,” he wrote on Weibo.

One Chinese commentator on YouTube said Wang’s action said a lot. “Diplomacy is no small matter. Many things are reflected in these episodes and details,” he said.

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The veteran Chinese diplomat’s attire has attracted attention before in his meetings with foreign leaders – especially when it comes to his tie.

When Wang met South Korea’s foreign minister Park Jin in Qingdao last year, Beijing Daily reported that the two praised each other’s ties. And in 2021 in Athens, Wang’s tie again made headlines for its diplomatic role.

Wang wore a blue tie for his meeting with then foreign minister Nikos Dendias, who said he was “very grateful” that the envoy had donned the colour of Greece’s national flag, according to Chinese media reports.

“[This time around] I cannot reciprocate with a red tie but I will do so when I visit Beijing,” Dendias said.

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National University of Singapore political scientist Chong Ja Ian said Wang’s actions showed that he was “adaptable and capable as a diplomat”, and that small gestures could help with China’s optics in the region.

“But it is ultimately policy and patterns of behaviour that matter more,” he said, pointing to China’s actions in the disputed South China Sea.

“People who think taking off a tie equates to these larger issues are not paying attention, don’t care, or have very short memories,” Chong said.

China has in recent years sought to assiduously court countries in its backyard as Washington expands its influence in the Southeast Asian region.

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While China remains a key trading partner for many of the region’s economies, there have also been tensions over several issues, including its territorial disputes in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety.

Wang’s Southeast Asian tour included stops in Malaysia and Cambodia, as well as Singapore.

During his visits to Singapore and Malaysia, Wang addressed the incident earlier this month, when Chinese coastguard vessels blocked and fired water cannon at a Philippines ship near the Manila-controlled Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

Wang urged Manila to work with Beijing to defuse tensions and said the United States and “some other forces are constantly making waves in the sea for fear that the South China Sea will no longer be chaotic”.

South China Morning Post