China's Wolf Warrior Diplomacy (Narrative): Development, Causes, and Political Effects

China's wolf warrior diplomacy has attracted worldwide attention since April 2020. Unlike previous studies, which mainly adopted a conceptual/qualitative approach, this study, based on Google Trends data during April 2020-May 2021, performs a comprehensive empirical analysis. In particular, this study finds that China's wolf warrior diplomacy began to develop rapidly in April 2020. It finds that China's wolf warrior diplomacy failed to stir up domestic nationalism but significantly augmented the perception of a Chinese threat around the world. However, Xi Jinping's new guidelines on China's wolf warrior diplomacy on May 31, 2021 have reduced the significance of this style of diplomacy.