Once upon a time China said it would 'tang guang yang hui' ('hide capacity bite time') in foreign policy, it's feared in the West for its lack of transparency and long-term ambitions. Now with 'wolf warrior diplomacy', Western observers seem to like 'tang guang yang hui' more.

Once upon a time, China began to discover the concept of soft power and engage in public diplomacy like Confucius Institutes, it's feared in the West for its insidious charm offensive. Now guess what's feared even more? Economic coercion & military muscle-flexing.

Once upon a time China's 'one country two systems' on Hong Kong was much-maligned in the West after the handover 20 years ago. Now guess what? Roundly condemning the new national security law, many in the West appear to be born-again defenders of the 'one country two systems'.

Once upon a time Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao were universally condemned for stalling democratisation process and trashing human rights norms. Now guess what? They almost seemed to be the West's darlings compared to Xi Jinping the real dictator.

Once upon a time there was endless speculation among IR scholars about when China would embrace multilateralism & shoulder more responsibility in international relations. Now guess what? Any multilateral bodies involving China are blamed for their China-centric authoritarianism.

Once upon a time there was the fear of 'who will feed China?' Now guess what? China's foreign aid and BRI in developing countries are creating fear of China's 'debt trap diplomacy'.

*tao guang yang hui

*bide time