Discovering new meanings for ‘soft power’
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 digital campaign on Chinese social media by Edinburgh, Scotland, resulted in a 40-percent rise in mainland tourists to the city, which boosted local businesses.
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 kids to learn English online so they are ready for a 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.
All that is necessary and commendable, but not enough. For, in the digital age, communication could be a double-edged sword; and a single, well-articulated view could go viral and shape or alter 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. That, too, is soft power.
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 foreignerfriendly? Are signage and maps at key public spots adequate, prominent and intuitive so as to really help a foreigner find his/her way around? Are locals willing and able 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 to join the fun. An unforgettable evening, complete with a buffet of Chinese delicacies, red wine, Chinese rice wine, gossip, jokes and stories, unfolded.
I am convinced there is a lot of latent soft power out there.