Thesoft powerof Chinais the indirect and non-military influence of thePeople's Republic of Chinathat can be observed outside the country around the world.[1]While soft power as a concept can be summarized as "get others to do your bidding" without resorting to hard power, it has been argued that the Chinese government uses a different approach (especially indeveloped countries) to "get others to stop harming your image" which is more in line with its domestic policies.[2]
Soft power rankings
editChina ranked 2nd out of 20 nations in the Elcano Global Presence Report for 2018 by theElcano Royal Institute.The report noted that China's Reputation ranking (24th) was considerably lower than its Influence ranking (2nd).[3]
According to the 2019Asia Power Index,China takes the lead indiplomatic influenceand ranks 2nd out of 25 countries in cultural influence after the US.[4][5]
China's ranked 27th out of 30 nations in the Soft Power 30 index for 2018 and 2019 published byPortland Communicationsand theUSC Center on Public Diplomacy.According to the index, China is a "cultural juggernaut", being ranked 8th in the Culture category and 10th in the Engagement category.[6]
China is ranked 3rd out of 193 nations in the Global Soft Power Index 2024 published by Brand Finance, a brand evaluation consultancy. Its rise faster than any other nation brand in the Index.[7]
Global influence and diplomacy
editChina's traditional culture has been a source of attraction, building on which it has created several hundredConfucius Institutesaround the world to teach its language and culture. The enrollment of foreign students in China has increased from 36,000 a decade ago[when?]to at least 240,000 in 2010.[8]China is the most popular country in Asia for international students,[9]the leading destination globally for Anglophone African students,[10]and the second most populareducation power housein the world.[11]China'sAsian Infrastructure Investment Bankhas attracted many western countries to join.[12]Increasing political pressure and scrutinyaround the Confucius Institutes have led to some closures.[13]
China has thelargest diplomatic networkin the world, overtaking the US in 2019.[14]
A spring 2014 Global Attitudes survey from Pew Research Center states China receives mostly positive reviews in the sub-Saharan African nations polled, although South Africans are closely divided (45% favorable, 40% unfavorable).[15]
Chinese soft-power in the Middle East countries has been expanding since the beginning of the millennium, and includes many efforts in the fields of education, journalism, and popular culture.[16]
The use of Chinese medical aid during theCOVID-19 pandemichas been dubbed "face-mask diplomacy".[17]
China leveraged the 2022 Winter Olympics to promote and expand its grandioseBelt and Road Initiative(BRI). While the world was transfixed on the Olympic competitions, countless delegations of international politicians traveled to Beijing to meet privately Chinese officials in order to carve out trade agreements that would allow their respective countries to become part of the BRI enterprise.[18]
In recent years, China has mainly exported Chinese culture overseas throughChinese video games.[19]For example, one-third of the top 100 mobile games in Japan currently come from China.[20]Gaming companies like Tencent have become instruments for China to exert soft power, acquiring shares in major video game companies and embedding Chinese cultural elements into games to promote China's influence globally.[21]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Edney, Kingsley; Rosen, Stanley; Zhu, Ying, eds. (2020).Soft power with Chinese characteristics: China's campaign for hearts and minds.Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.ISBN978-1-351-80435-6.OCLC1130023014.
- ^Yıldırım, Nilgün Eliküçük; Aslan, Mesut (2020)."China's Charm Defensive: Image Protection by Acquiring Mass Entertainment".Pacific Focus.35(1):141–171.doi:10.1111/pafo.12153.ISSN1976-5118.S2CID219114363.
- ^"Elcano Global Presence Report"(PDF).Elcano Global Institute.RetrievedAugust 10,2020.
- ^"CHINA".Lowy Institute Asia Power Index.RetrievedJuly 18,2020.
- ^"Five big takeaways from the 2019 Asia Power Index".lowyinstitute.org.RetrievedMay 6,2020.
- ^"China".Soft Power.RetrievedAugust 10,2020.
- ^"Global Soft Power Index 2024: USA and UK ranked top nation brands, China takes third place".Modern Diplomacy.March 1, 2024.
- ^Nye, Joseph S. (January 17, 2012)."Why China Is Weak on Soft Power".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archivedfrom the original on January 18, 2012.RetrievedJune 6,2020.
- ^"International Student Mobility: Patterns and Trends".WENR.October 1, 2007.RetrievedSeptember 11,2020.
- ^Breeze, Victoria (June 27, 2017)."China tops US and UK as destination for anglophone African students".The Conversation.RetrievedFebruary 18,2018.
- ^"China's 2020 target: reshaping global mobility flows".EAIE.January 27, 2020.RetrievedMay 5,2020.
- ^"With New Bank, China Shows U.S. It's Got Soft Power".Forbes.March 23, 2015.RetrievedJuly 31,2015.
- ^"Colleges move to close Chinese government-funded Confucius Institutes amid increasing scrutiny".insidehighered.Archivedfrom the original on January 19, 2020.RetrievedOctober 17,2019.
- ^"China now has the most diplomatic posts worldwide".BBC News.November 27, 2019.RetrievedAugust 10,2020.
- ^"Global Opposition to U.S. Surveillance and Drones, but Limited Harm to America's Image".Pew Research Center. July 14, 2014.Archivedfrom the original on April 17, 2015.RetrievedApril 14,2015.
- ^Yellinek, Roie; et al. (March 1, 2020). "Chinese 'Soft Power Pipelines Diffusion' (SPPD) to the Middle Eastern Arab Countries 2000-2018: A Discursive-Institutional Study".British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.48(5):941–959.doi:10.1080/13530194.2020.1732870.ISSN1353-0194.S2CID213061595.
- ^Waterson, Jim; Kuo, Lily (April 3, 2020)."China steps up western media campaign over coronavirus crisis".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Archivedfrom the original on April 5, 2020.RetrievedApril 6,2020.
- ^"Sport: A" Soft Power "Component Of China's Belt & Road Initiative".Boxscore World Sportswire.March 20, 2023.RetrievedMarch 22,2023.
- ^"Điện tử trò chơi đã trở thành phát ra Trung Quốc văn hóa quan trọng vật dẫn".The Paper(in Chinese (China)). October 19, 2022.
- ^"Trung Quốc tay du 《 nguyên thần 》 hồng biến toàn cầu nữu khi: Trung Quốc chính thay đổi toàn cầu điện tử trò chơi nghiệp".HK01(in Chinese (Hong Kong)). March 20, 2022.
- ^Yuan, Shaoyu (November 25, 2024)."From play to power: china's video games as instruments of soft power".The Pacific Review:1–22.doi:10.1080/09512748.2024.2433748.ISSN0951-2748.