‘Soft power’ also includes conveniences for visitors

Spring Festival has shown there are many facets to “soft power” — and China is mining them amid perceptions that it aspires to be the 21st century’s global hegemon.

In the digital age, communication is the key to soft power. A campaign on Chinese social media by Edinburgh, Scotland, resulted in a 40 percent rise in mainland tourists to the city.

Similarly, several countries have been attracting newly affluent Chinese tourists by using the Chinese language and Chinese guides, and by making available Chinese mobile-payment tools and even Chinese cuisine.

China has been reciprocating, besides trying to project a proper image of itself — not a hegemon but a friend steeped in civilization and culture that can help make the world a better place. Chinese New Year-related events overseas, the Confucius Institutes abroad, and exports of Chinese films, music, literature, crafts, fashion and manufactured goods have been complemented by encouragement for outbound Chinese tourists to be good ambassadors by being well-behaved.

Chinese charities are helping rural children learn English online so they are ready for a Siva Sankar globalized world. Foreign movies like Bollywood’s Dangal and Secret Superstar are reaching Chinese filmgoers. Foreign talent and foreign technologies are being made integral to China’s development.

But in the digital age, communication could be a doubleedged sword, and a well-articulated view could go viral and shape perceptions in a jiffy.

So, the larger ecosystem needs to communicate that China is a friendly nation that cares for the comfort level of not just locals but of foreign tourists and expatriates.

After returning to their home country, would a foreign tourist/student/professional award a high score to China? I think that would depend on answers to everyday-life questions like the following:

Is she or he able to find information in English and other languages on films screened at local cinemas, and buy tickets online easily? Is she or he able to buy products and services on local e-commerce sites and apps easily? Are local internet search engines, online map services, hospital and ambulance services, banks, travel and tourism sites multilingual yet? Are public transport-related announcements correct, comprehensible and foreigner-friendly? Are locals willing to help foreigners?

Postscript: On Chinese New Year’s Eve, a colleague and I — two foreigners hungry after a long walk in the Beijing cold and desperate to find food in the nearly deserted streets — decided to push our luck and kind of gate-crashed an office dinner party at a closed restaurant. We were about to be shown the door when an English-speaking Chinese gentleman, the party host, dapper in a suit and bow tie, gamely invited us in to join the fun. An unforgettable evening complete with a buffet of delicacies, red wine, rice wine, gossip, jokes and stories unfolded.

I am convinced there is a lot of latent soft power out there. expected to be raised.

China’s industrialization over the past four decades has left many of its cities grappling with air, water and soil pollution even as it lifted millions out of poverty.

The government will also need to figure out how to absorb the labor force that will be laid off when overcapacity in coal and steel are cut. Also an issue is sustainable reuse of sites of shut mines and abandoned factories. Some estimates suggest China will need to spend billions of dollars in the fight against pollution.

Other developing countries also have to bear the cost of change if they want to give their citizens a cleaner environment.

I spent my initial months in Beijing counting the number of off-scale smoggy days (there were quite a few) after I moved here from New Delhi nearly five years ago.

Now I read media reports about how Delhi has emerged as one of the most polluted cities in the world.

Policymakers in both countries recognize the problem and are seeking solutions. It will be an uphill task for China and India because the population pressure they face isn’t something the developed world had to deal with while correcting the wrongs of the Industrial Revolution.

Achieving a balance between economic development and environmental preservation looks easier on paper than it does on the ground.

But I hope both countries can benefit from the wisdom of others.

REUTERS Wu Dajing of China competes during men’s 500m final of short-track speed skating events at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, on Feb 22.