China Goes Global: The Partial Power by Shambaugh David

Author:Shambaugh, David [Shambaugh, David]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 2013-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

China’s Discourse on International Image, Soft Power, and Public Diplomacy

The concept of soft power, usually translated in Chinese as ruan shili ,17 has percolated in Chinese academic discourse for two decades. The first academic article on the subject was published in 1993 by Professor Wang Huning, who was then at Fudan University; his academic career turned political soon thereafter when he became a close advisor to former President Jiang Zemin and his successor Hu Jintao.18 After a decade hiatus, the concept fully entered Chinese academic discourse around 2003–04, largely in response to the Chinese translation and circulation of Nye’s popular book Soft Power. President Hu’s references to soft and cultural power in his keynote address to the Seventeenth Party Congress in 2007 did much to stimulate interest in and publications on the subject: “The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will definitely be accompanied by the thriving of Chinese culture.… We must enhance culture as part of the soft power of our country.… We will further publicize the fine traditions of Chinese culture and strengthen international cultural exchanges to enhance the influence of Chinese culture worldwide.”19

Academic and newspaper articles on soft power spiked sharply in the years following Hu’s speech. Several universities and research institutions have sponsored conferences and forums on the subject. Fudan University, Beijing University, Tsinghua University, China Foreign Studies and Culture University, the Central Party School, and the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR) have all convened soft power symposia.

There is also a parallel and rapidly growing interest in the subject of public diplomacy .20 Journalism and media departments in Chinese universities have established majors in public diplomacy, a quarterly journal entitled Public Diplomacy was launched by the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC) in 2010, the CPPCC at provincial and municipal levels was instructed in 2011 to establish public diplomacy offices and activities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established an Office of Public Diplomacy in 2010, and even a Museum of Public Diplomacy was established in eastern Beijing in 2008.

There is growing recognition in China that the components of its international image are subjects worthy of academic study as well as foreign policy practice.21 Interviews with a variety of Foreign Ministry and other governmental officials at the central and provincial levels all indicate they are paying increasing attention to both domestic and international opinion. This is usually done in departments and universities concerned with mass communications, media studies, and broadcasting rather than IR or diplomacy institutions.22 This is an interesting insight into how Chinese authorities and academics think about the issue, i.e., national image is something to be marketed via the media rather than built by society or promoted via diplomacy. The most thorough study of China’s international image building to date was edited by Zhou Mingwei, director-general of China’s Foreign Languages Press. The FLP has a long tradition of trying to “tell China’s story to the world,” dating to the establishment of the People’s Republic. For many decades it was a straightforward state propaganda

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.