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How China’s South Africa ambassador became one of its top US antagonists on Twitter

Donald Trump’s unconventional approach to governance and diplomacy has encouraged China to experiment with a more confrontational diplomacy style with one its leading diplomats in Africa.

Twitter, like Facebook, is officially blocked in China, and Chinese nationals caught using the platform on the mainland can face serious consequences. But that hasn’t stopped Beijing from encouraging some of its top envoys to adopt the platform to share the government’s message with the rest of the world that doesn’t use Chinese equivalents such as Sina Weibo.

As China attempts a more transparent diplomacy, its ambassador to South Africa has emerged as one of its most skilled mouthpieces in the digital sphere. Although stationed in Pretoria, many of his tweets are targeted at China’s naysayers in Washington DC.

Ambassador Lin Songtian is a fierce critic of the current US administration. He propagates Beijing’s message and brings the digital fight to Donald Trump’s favorite turf.  Since joining Twitter last September, he has tweeted over 1,000 times, often sharing news articles from China’s state-owned media organizations like CGTN and People’s Daily, raking in over 8,000 followers.

“By Chinese standards, he really stands out,” wrote Eric Olander, managing editor of The China Africa Project. “Unlike his peers, he’s not afraid of holding live press conferences in English on national South African TV or to do unscripted interviews with journalists.”

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