The Chinese embassy in France called a French researcher a “little rascal” for speaking out against Beijing’s opposition to a planned official visit to Taiwan, sparking criticism from the European country’s political and media circles.

The embassy last Friday launched a personal attack on Antoine Bondaz, a researcher at the independent think tank Foundation for Strategic Research, who earlier spoke out against China’s interference in French Senator Alain Richard’s trip to Taiwan.

Lu Shaye, China’s top envoy in France, earlier wrote a letter to Richard and asked him to cancel the trip.

The labeling of Bondaz as a “little rascal” was met with strong reactions in France, with Le Monde describing it in a Friday report as a resurgence of the “wolf warrior diplomacy.” Marc Epstein, a journalist at the French news magazine L’Express, tweeted that the embassy’s behavior showed that violence was the nature of China’s one-party rule.

French politicians across the political spectrum criticized the Chinese embassy for ignoring basic diplomatic protocols by hurling insults at a local academic and demanded the French government give a serious warning to Lu. Senator Valérie Boyer threw her support behind Bondaz, saying France respects academics and treasures their freedom.

At least two members of the European Parliament urged Paris to take a tough stance on the Chinese envoy. French native Raphaël Glucksmann called for Paris to summon Lu and warn him of expulsion for any further inappropriate acts. François-Xavier Bellamy said the French foreign ministry must not let the Chinese embassy get away with the insult.

Bondaz told local media that the insult would not affect his work, but he was concerned that the arbitrary use of coarse language by the Chinese embassy could mean more politicians and journalists might face insults.

On Sunday, the state-run China Central Television repeated an earlier statement by the Chinese embassy, saying that Beijing opposed any countries with formal ties to it to engage in any official exchange with Taiwan.

The embassy warned in the statement that China would keep an eye on the planned French visit and might take further action in response.

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