This Is Why A Ton Of Chinese People Are Lusting Over Wang
Move over Big Daddy Xi, you’ve got competition from Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Guys, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi* has made it, striding into the fame hall of internet celebrities as the newest national heartthrob in China.
(*Editor's note: We are aware of that the common Chinese surname "Wang" has a humorous meaning in English. We mean no disrespect to the Foreign Minister and will do our best to keep the jokes to a minimum.)
The story began when he berated a Canadian reporter for raising a question over China's recent human rights record.
"Your question is full of prejudice against China and arrogance ... I don't know where that comes from. This is totally unacceptable," Wang said through a translator, jumping on the question asked to his Canadian counterpart.
Foreign media "prejudice" has long been hated and stated over and over again by China's state-controlled media. Just recently, AP has been labeled as "anti-China force" together with American Bar Association and US embassy in China, not to mention the long list of websites blocked in the country.
Wang and his diplomats make frequent appearances on primetime CCTV News and make headlines for dealing with the South China Sea dispute, resulting in him going viral enough that he's now basically treated like a pop star.
This GIF of Wang stirring coffee ~elegantly~ has been shared on Weibo more times than you would believe, for example.
This old photo of the then 28-year-old Japanese-language student (who later became ambassador to Japan) was dug out and became a source of massive thirst for Wang*.
(Quick bio: he spent his whole career working his up way from an entry-level employee to the boss at the Foreign Ministry, and once studied at Georgetown University School of Foreign Affairs.)
(*Editor's note: Sorry about that.)