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"Paper tiger" is a literal English translation of the Chinese phrase ''zhǐlǎohǔ'' ( zh, s=纸老虎, t=紙老虎). The term refers to something or someone that claims or appears to be powerful or threatening, but is actually ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge. The expression became well known internationally as a slogan used by Mao Zedong, Former
Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party The Chairman of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party () was the leader of the Chinese Communist Party. The position was established at the 8th National Congress in 1945 and abolished at the 12th National Congress in 1982, bei ...
and
paramount leader of China Paramount leader () is an informal term for the most important political figure in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The paramount leader typically controls the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Liberation Army (PLA), often ho ...
, against his political opponents, particularly the United States. It has since been used in various capacities and variations to describe many other opponents and entities, such as North Korea,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...
, and even China itself.


Origin

''Zhilaohu'' is an ancient phrase. Robert Morrison, the British missionary and lexicographer, translated the phrase as "a paper tiger" in ''Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect'' in 1828. John Francis Davis translated the Chinese phrase as "paper tiger" in a book on Chinese history published in 1836. In a meeting with Henry Kissinger in 1973, Mao Zedong claimed in a humorous aside to have coined the English phrase, which provoked laughter all around.


Use

Mao Zedong first introduced his idea of paper tigers to Americans in an August 1946 interview with American journalist
Anna Louise Strong Anna Louise Strong (November 24, 1885 – March 29, 1970) was an American journalist and activist, best known for her reporting on and support for communist movements in the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China.Archives West,Anna Loui ...
: In a 1956 interview with Strong, Mao used the phrase "paper tiger" to describe
American imperialism American imperialism refers to the expansion of American political, economic, cultural, and media influence beyond the boundaries of the United States. Depending on the commentator, it may include imperialism through outright military conquest ...
again: In 1957, Mao reminisced about the original interview with Strong: In this view, "paper tigers" are superficially powerful but are prone to overextension that leads to sudden collapse. When Mao criticized Soviet appeasement of the United States during the Sino-Soviet split,
Soviet Premier The Premier of the Soviet Union (russian: Глава Правительства СССР) was the head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The office had four different names throughout its existence: Chairman of the ...
Nikita Khrushchev reportedly said, "the paper tiger has nuclear teeth".


Other uses

In ''
The Resistance to Theory "The Resistance to Theory" is an essay by Paul de Man (1919–83), a renowned literary critic and theorist belonging to the Yale School of Deconstruction, which appeared in ''Yale French Studies'' 63 (1982) and was widely anthologized. The essay ...
'' (1982), Paul de Man used the phrase to reflect upon the threat of literary theory to traditional literary scholarship in American academia. He said, "If a cat is called a tiger it can easily be dismissed as a paper tiger; the question remains however why one was so scared of the cat in the first place". Osama bin Laden described U.S. soldiers as "paper tigers". This statement may reflect the influence of
Maoism Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...
on the formation of the Taliban. The phrase was used in a 2006 speech by then- Senator Joe Biden to describe North Korea after a series of missile launches from the country that same year, defying the warnings of the international community while still incapable of directly harming the United States. China itself has been called a paper tiger. In 2021, Tufts University professor Michael Beckley argued in his book ''Unrivaled: Why America Will Remain the World’s Sole Superpower'' that China would not be able to overtake the United States, and that believing China is stronger than it really is, is detrimental to American perceptions and policy. According to Beckley, this is because "China’s economic, financial, technological, and military strength is hugely exaggerated by crude and inaccurate statistics": for example, Beckley states that high-scoring Chinese education statistics are actually cherry picked, that the People's Liberation Army is not as strong as the United States Armed Forces due to their differing focuses, and that China's large
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
does not equate to their actual strength or power. Following the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, the
Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two ...
was described by some commentators as a paper tiger. Steve Day, a retired
Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...
Joint Task Force 2 commander, described Russian command and control as "utterly inept" and suggested that the Russian military "may not be as invincible as we've believed for a number of decades". ''Warrior Maven'' and ''19FortyFive'' noted that newly-developed Russian technologies such as the
Sukhoi Su-57 The Sukhoi Su-57 (russian: Сухой Су-57; NATO reporting name: Felon) is a twin-engine stealth multirole fighter aircraft developed by Sukhoi. It is the product of the PAK FA (russian: ПАК ФА, russian: label=short for, Перспе� ...
and hypersonic missiles were not deployed during the conflict; the former argued that despite Vladimir Putin making "a public spectacle of what he claims are his country’s now operational hypersonic weapons, and state-owned Russian media reports consistently tout new military technologies, tests and progress", these new technologies are only deployed in small numbers, so it is likely that Russia's "integrated ground combat abilities, long thought to be exemplary, have been massively overestimated". '' The New Yorker'' noted that during the 2008
Russo-Georgian War The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of So ...
, the Russian military suffered from "disunity of command; logistical weaknesses; poorly trained, poorly motivated, poorly led troops; very poor quality of officer corps; very poor quality of campaign design and ability to plan", as well as "very poor integration within and among the armed services, including the synchronization of air and ground operations".


See also

* Straw dog * China's final warning


References

{{reflist, 40em Anti-American sentiment in China Chinglish Political catchphrases Political metaphors Mao Zedong Metaphors referring to tigers