China Soft Power

http://csis.org/files/media/csis/pubs/090305_mcgiffert_chinesesoftpower_web.pdf

Chinese leadership has embraced the mainstream intellectual view that culture is the “core” resource of a state’s soft power.

Today, however, these policies are advocated by only a mi- nority of Chinese scholars and have not been embraced by the Chinese leadership, which remains largely cautious and risk averse.“if a country has an admirable culture and ideological system, other countries will tend to follow it. . . . It does not have to use its hard power which is expensive and less efficient.”6

Wang Huning

the central role of culture in the exercise of soft power has been embraced by China’s leadership

One leading analyst believes that China’s modern-day emphasis stability, and harmony hasuniversal appeal and could supplement, though not replace, U.S. values.17

Fang Changping points out: “The key reason for the decline of American soft power is due to ‘what America does,’ while ‘what America is’ still holds powerful attraction—one of the reasons that the United States still wields an edge in the domain of soft power.”20

Anger over Western media coverage of protests in Tibetand the Olympic torch relay in the spring of 2008 revived long- standing suspicions that U.S. “cultural hegemony” was being used to weaken and destabilize China and led to calls for Beijing to combat this challenge.24 The view of Shanghai Jiaotong University professor Li Haijuan that “the competition of cultural power is the core of soft power contention” is shared by many Chinese.25

PresidentHu Jintao declared in a 2006 speech: “The one who takes commanding point on the battlefield of cultural development will gain the upper hand in fierce international competition.”27 The discourse on soft power reinforced the notion that the party had to get culture right.

Hu said: “Culture has increasingly become an important source of national cohe- sion and creativity and an important factorin the competition of overall national strength,” and he added that China must “enhance the country’s cultural soft power [wenhua ruanshili].”

The mi- nority view, held by some international relations experts, does not deny the importance of culture but focuses instead on how soft-power resources are used, concluding that political power is the core of soft power.

The leading proponent ofthis school, Qinghua University professor Yan Xuetong, argues that “to reinforce the soft power of China, the critical issue is to strengthen political power. Starting with politics is not the same thing as starting with culture.”4

Deng Xiaoping’s dictum that China should keep a low profile in international affairs; many ask whether it is time for China to assume a more proac-
tiveposture commensurate with its rising status as an international power.

Premier Wen Jiabao said: “We should expand cultural exchanges with other countries. Cultural exchanges are a bridge connecting the hearts and minds of people . . . an important way to project a country’s image.” Wen also called “to promote Chinese culture and its appeal overseas.”61

the Chinese approach to soft power isholistic: the domestic and foreign policy aspects of soft-power development are conceived as an organic whole. For example, the idea of “establishing a ‘harmonious society’ domestically and establishing a ‘harmonious world’ interna- tionally” is seen as providing a “comprehensive framework for the ongoing development of China’s soft power.”67

In the opinion of Shi Yinhong, for China to be aninspiration to the world, China first needs to be an inspiration to its own people. He questions what value China offers the world beyond economic growth when it “still has a long way to go to realize basic freedoms or rights.”7

Hu Angang, a professor at Qinghua University and an adviser to the Chinese government, opined that China’s harmonious-society undertaking is “more influential and alluring...