China’s consul general in Brazil has attacked Canada’s leader Justin Trudeau as a “boy” who turned his country into a subservient “running dog” of the United States in a social media tirade.

Li Yang, consul general in Rio de Janeiro, took to Twitter on Sunday to slam the Canadian prime minister as a spendthrift while accusing him of ruining the friendly relations between Canada and China.

“Boy, your greatest achievement is to have ruined the friendly relations between China and Canada, and have turned Canada into a running dog of the US. Spendthrift!” Li wrote in the tweet featuring a photo of Trudeau.

The term “running dog” — meaning a lackey — was often used in the era of Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong to describe allies of the United States.

Li’s remarks came after Canada, alongside the European Union, the U.S. and Britain, last week imposed sanctions on Chinese officials and a state-owned entity over human rights abuses of Uyghur Muslim minorities in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang.

Another Chinese diplomat, Ambassador to France Lu Shaye, earlier caused a backlash after labeling a French researcher as a “little rascal” for speaking out against Beijing’s opposition to a planned visit by French senators to Taiwan.

Li’s tweet won praise from Chinese netizens, who left comments on the social media platform which is banned in China. His outburst also had its critics, with one saying the diplomat was a joke. Li quickly hit back and described one of his critics as a “flattering dog to the West.”

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