The Neighbors Aren’t Impressed

Soft Power with Chinese Characteristics: China’s Campaign for Hearts and Minds

Since President Hu Jintao underlined the importance of Chinese culture as soft power, his successor Xi Jinping accentuated the need to disseminate the “Chinese story” abroad. This collection of papers by 19 Chinese and Western experts assesses the development of China’s soft power in a new period of its external assertiveness under Xi’s rein.

The first half looks at Beijing’s soft-power strategy in key functional areas: new media, film, nation branding and education. The second half examines China’s soft-power relationships with seven countries and regions, including Europe, the Americas, Africa and East Asia. Despite heavily invested efforts, China still suffers “soft power deficit” compared both to its Western counterparts and to its own hard power, as often revealed in surveys, opinion polls and global soft-power rankings. The authors enlist as some causes: the priority given to the domestic legitimacy concerns of China’s diplomacy; the absence of Chinese NGOS; and the gap between an increasingly confident foreign policy and a closed, rigid domestic political system.

Along with Beijing’s social Darwinist approach to maximize its power and security and expand its influence, neighbors have hardly been convinced that its rise and great power aspirations are as peaceful and non-hegemonic as it says. Alas, Beijing’s hardpower policies are eating up its soft power efforts.

Despite heavily invested efforts, China still suffers ‘soft power deficit’