China public diplomacy practice
Siqin Meng school of international studies
Abstract
Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, China has risen to be the dominant force in leading the re-globalization of the world. During this process, China has put forward a series of new "beyond-public-diplomacy" values in the public diplomacy field and actively put them into practice so that China could be known and recognized by the world. Along with the proposal of the Chinese Dream for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, a rising and rejuvenated China inevitably needs the world's understanding, recognition and acceptance, and China has begun to construct the world's understanding, recognition and identification of a rising and rejuvenated China around the "telling of China's story", and the practice of China's public diplomacy has thus entered into a new era that is different from the previous one. Therefore, this paper will introduce the theoretical and practical exploration process of China's public diplomacy
Key words: China public diplomacy, Chinese dream, a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind, Belt & Road
I. Introduction
Since the new century, with the rapid economic growth, China has begun to pay attention to its international image, and public diplomacy has also become one of the diplomatic strategies that China attaches importance to. We hope that China's voice can be heard by the outside world, and that the world can understand our modern values and understand the Chinese dream.
Today's world is during a great change not seen in a hundred years, with a comprehensive transformation of the old and new dynamics of the world economy, a profound and accelerated evolution of international power and patterns, and a profound reshaping of the global governance system. It is against this background of "great changes" that not only China, but also the whole world is asking "what is wrong with the world and what should we do". This question is not only a question about the existing theory, practice, and value of international relations, but also a question about the existing theory, practice, and value of public diplomacy.
Soon after the conclusion of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, President Xi Jinping put forward, for the first time, the idea of the Chinese Dream on a visit to “The Road towards Renewal” exhibition at the National Museum of China. He further elaborated on the Chinese Dream in his speech at the closing ceremony of the First Session of the 12National People's Congress. Since then, he has talked about the concept on several occasions.
This paper introduces the theories involved in the practice of public diplomacy in China, describes the elements of Chinese public diplomacy and how it has explored the practice.
II. Public diplomacy theory
1. Chinese traditional public diplomacy thought
When Joseph Nye wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal Asia on December 9, 2005 describing China's "soft power" resources, he clearly pointed out that the most prominent "soft power" in China is China's charming traditional culture.
China's soft power culture can be traced back to Confucius. Confucius Thought is not only the essence of traditional Chinese thought, but also an important perspective for understanding major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era and accurately understanding China's peaceful rise. Confucius thought covers many fields, but "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, faith and harmony" is its theoretical essence, which builds the theoretical framework of Confucianism and even Chinese traditional culture. Confucius thought not only contains the philosophy of dealing with the world, but also contains endless diplomatic wisdom. It can be said that the excellent elements of Confucius thought have become an important ideological and theoretical basis for promoting the continuous development of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics and building a new type of international relations and a community with a shared future for mankind.
1）The idea of benevolence
"Benevolence" is the core of Confucian thought; the ultimate goal of Confucianism is to build a harmonious society of nature and human with "benevolence". The essence of benevolence is "love", a person who truly knows how to love others can fulfill their social responsibilities, and thus form a strategy of benevolence and morality governance.
2）The idea of "righteousness"
For Mencius, the pursuit of morality is to speak of "righteousness", while the pursuit of military and economic strength is to speak of "profit". The relationship between justice and profit is the relationship between soft power and hard power. Mencius pointed out that the country's pursuit of "benevolence and justice" can be invincible in the world. The combination of benevolence and righteousness formed the ancient Chinese idea of building a country with benevolence and justice, "Benevolence is invincible in the world" and "those who get the way have more help and those who lose the way have less help."
3） The thought of "propriety"
The theory of propriety embodies the spirit of rites, that is, the order and system in the modern sense. Confucius built a complete ideological system of "virtue and Tao" through "benevolence" and "ritual". Benevolence embodies the spirit of humanity, while ritual embodies the spirit of ritual, that is, the order and system in the modern sense. Humanism is the eternal theme of human beings, which is applicable to any society, any era and any government, while order and system society are the basic requirements for the establishment of human civilization. Confucius' spirit of humanism and order is the essence of ancient Chinese social and political thought.
4）The thought of faith
The "faith" in traditional Chinese culture, comes from the observation and learning of nature, and from the understanding of the way of nature. The Chinese people have also realized the characteristics of "faith", that is, punctuality and order, and then produced the Chinese "integrity" culture of "sincerity without false and order without disorder". The research on the diplomatic meaning of "faith" in Chinese traditional culture is the need for Chinese traditional culture to become modern and embody its diplomatic value.
5）The thought of "harmony"
The pre-Qin Confucianism established the basic framework of international relations ethics with the tenet of "harmony is the most precious". The concepts of "harmony in diversity", "harmony among all nations" and "harmony" represent the universal and universal communication norms, survival principles and humanistic spirit, and embody the ideological temperament and cultural attitude of the Chinese nation. "Harmony" is not only an understanding of the justice of war, the prohibition of cruelty, etc., but also the ultimate pursuit of harmony, moderation, and harmony in distinction. The idea of "harmony" has a profound influence on China's public diplomacy. In the article "Harmony" is the core of China's Public Diplomacy ", Zhao Qizheng pointed out that the Chinese word "harmony" has rich connotations and highly concentrates Chinese culture and Chinese spirit, and "harmony" is the theoretical core of public diplomacy. We should do a good job in spreading "harmony". Inject new elements into the theoretical construction of public diplomacy. Some scholars put forward public diplomacy analysis paradigms with Chinese characteristics, such as "harmony", to pursue the road of world communication that crosses the historical gap between realism and idealism, and surends the binary opposition between materialism and idealism. In addition, Mozi's thought of "universal love" and "non-attack" also reflects the win-win and two-way cooperation between countries.
2. Soft power
Soft power is the ability of a country to shape other countries' views, attitudes, perceptions and actions without force or coercion. Exercising soft power, a state can attract supporters and partners towards its policies, views and actions. Its importance has been known for centuries, but the term was coined by Joseph Nye in the late 1980s.
According to Joseph Nye's theory of soft power, soft power comes from three main sources: a charismatic culture, values, and a foreign policy that is legitimate and has moral authority. Power is the ability to affect others to get the outcomes one prefers, and that can be accomplished by coercion, payment, or attraction and persuasion. Soft power is the ability to obtain preferred outcomes by attraction rather than coercion or payment. Public diplomacy is an important way to realize the content and goal of soft power, and an important content of soft power construction. In the abstract, soft power can be essentially seen as the influence of a country, which is composed of different aspects, including cultural influence, institutional influence, ideological influence, and diplomatic influence, among which cultural influence is the core of a country's soft power.
The relationship between soft power and China's public diplomacy is mainly reflected in four aspects:
1) Soft power enriches the main body and content of China's public diplomacy
First, soft power enriches the main body of China's public diplomacy. Nye argues that "soft power, unlike hard power, can be managed by the government," noting that actors such as civil society organizations, businesses, universities, foundations, religious organizations, ethnic groups, and international institutions have significant influence, and he advocates that this influence be valued and organizations need to cooperate with each other when necessary. Secondly, soft power has enriched the content of China's public diplomacy since the 18th CPC National Congress. Economic, cultural, information, network and other factors have been increasingly important to the development of international relations, enriching the means and content of public diplomacy.
2) Soft power is an important way to achieve China's public diplomacy goals
Soft power mainly shows the attraction, influence and shaping power of a country, and is an important means for a country to shape and display its own charm on the international stage. The most effective way to transform this soft power concept into practice is public diplomacy. As the international community enters a period of relative peace, the influence of a country can be realized not only by force, but also by soft power, which can influence other countries through factors such as culture, economic system, social system and development model, so as to realize the communication with the foreign public, promote the flow of information, create a good international public opinion environment and shape the national image, to realize the national interest. It is not difficult to see that soft power is an important way to achieve the goal of China's public diplomacy since the 18th National Congress of China.
3) Cultural influence and political influence are important aspects of soft power
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the goal of China's public diplomacy has been to expand political influence and enhance China's international cultural influence. In the concrete practice of China's public diplomacy, culture plays an extraordinary role. All countries in the world attach great importance to the role of culture, and actively carry out cultural diplomacy and expand public diplomacy. But fundamentally, a country's image and soft power, in addition to the support of cultural influence, is more important political influence. In the practice of China's public diplomacy, culture is the brand of a country, reflecting its historical tradition and innovative development. Politics is the foundation of a country's diplomacy, reflecting the country's political structure and basic value orientation. Cultural influence and political influence are closely combined, culture permeates political direction, and political exchanges also contain cultural elements. The interaction and influence of the two have promoted the development of China's public diplomacy.
4) China's public diplomacy is an important means to enhance national soft power
On the one hand, through the information and cultural communication of China's public diplomacy since the 18th CPC National Congress, a country's soft power has been more widely perceived by domestic and foreign audiences; On the other hand, China's public diplomacy helps countries strengthen understanding and build mutual trust through listening, communication, and dialogue, thus enhancing national soft power and promoting international peace. However, traditional public diplomacy regards soft power theory as a counterpart of hard power, a supplement and direct reflection of hard power, and proposes a smart power combining the two to cope with the challenges to Western culture brought about by the rise of China and the development and revival of other civilizations. In general, traditional public diplomacy regards soft power as an important means and way to export culture and values, which is relative to military and economic means and ways. In this way, soft power theory has become an effective theoretical tool for Western universal values to be implanted into other countries' social and cultural systems. The soft power emphasized by China's public diplomacy since the 18th CPC National Congress is mainly cultural soft power, which emphasizes the realization of understanding and sharing among cultures through cultural communication, exchange, listening and dialogue, so as to realize the diversity of global cultures rather than universal consistency. China's public diplomacy practice recognizes the value of soft power, especially in shaping national image and promoting cultural sharing.
III. Chinese dream
1. What‘s Chinese dream
Originating from the people, the Chinese Dream is the continuation and development of the great cause of the Chinese people's struggle for national independence and liberation, and the realization of national prosperity and people's prosperity in modern times. It is a process of national rejuvenation, China's rise, and the four modernizations. And the core values of prosperity, democracy, civilization, harmony and freedom, equality, justice, and the rule of law at the national and social levels are highly summarized and condensed, which is conducive to focusing on goals, clarifying tasks, and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
As a supporter of the Chinese dream, we should remain true to our original aspiration and firmly follow the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Just like what was said at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee, we must unswervingly adhere to it, improve it with The Times, and strive to be a passionate youth in the new era!
2. Compared with Chinese dream and American dream
Originating in Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, the American Dream is the epitome of American cultural spirit. The affirmation of individual value in the European Renaissance and Enlightenment, and the Puritanism brought to America by the Puritans are inextricably linked with the formation and development of individualism values.
National dreams represent possibilities. The "American Dream" and the "Chinese dream" are both derived from history and are the vivid embodiment of the national spirit. Historian James Truslow Adams is credited with popularizing the term "American dream" during the Great Depression. The "American Dream" was originally more of a literary concept describing a sociocultural phenomenon, while the "Chinese Dream" is a statement of national goals. Both dreams aim to reinforce national pride and provide a sense of direction, but there are important differences in focus.
The American Dream is about individual opportunity, while the Chinese Dream is about the national rejuvenation of a great nation. They also differ in context. The American Dream was forged during the worst years of the Great Depression, at a time of national despair. The "Chinese Dream" was conceived at a time of growing national power.
We know from experience that dreams cannot be taken literally, they are a combination of fantasy and reality. But as political and social statements, the "American Dream" and the "Chinese Dream" are based on a perception of reality.
To the extent that they reflect the core values of each country, they qualify as national narratives. The challenge lies in the intersection of these two dreams, do they combine to promote conflict resolution, or do they have different purposes and exacerbate conflict? Seeing these two national dreams as narratives deepens our understanding of the US-China conflict.
The Chinese Dream is a political statement, a social goal, and an economic goal. It provides both internal and external meaning. It embodies the idea of common prosperity and is in line with China's ambitious development trajectory. Perhaps most important, it underscores China's determination to regain its place among the world's leading nations. All this - and much more - in the name of renewal.
Countries are hardly criticized for dreaming of sustained prosperity. But it is very rare for countries to achieve this dream overnight. The "Chinese Dream" and the "American Dream" reflect the very different development paths of the two countries over the past few centuries.
Importantly, national dreams are intended to be forward-looking in conveying ambitious goals. As a once poor and now middle-income society, China still has a long way to go for development and prosperity. As a rich country, the US faces serious structural headwinds if it is to sustain economic growth. Both the American and Chinese national dreams offer exciting paths that aim to put their difficult histories behind them.
Although the economic and political context of these two dreams is very different, they share a key challenge: addressing the increasing problem of growth. One nation's dream needs not come to the detriment of another nation's dream.
IV. The exploration of the outward spread of the Chinese Dream
1. Share the Chinese dream of a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind Through foreign aid
The community of human destiny is the ideological fulcrum of China's public diplomacy since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and the best embodiment of the concept and value of China's public diplomacy since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
The vision of a community with a shared future for mankind is a scientific, complete, rich and far-reaching ideological system. Its core is "Building an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity." This vision clearly Outlines China's public diplomacy plan and path of action in the new era, and points out the direction for world development and global governance. It can be summarized in five aspects:
1) A community of shared future featuring mutual respect, dialogue, and partnership
With the deepening development of economic globalization and the beginning of re-globalization, it is an important mission of public diplomacy to actively participate in and work together to overcome the inherent contradictions and serious drawbacks contained in the process of economic globalization for hundreds of years. The community of shared future for mankind takes the common interests of different countries as the basic bond, and through the integration and dialogue of interests, constructs a new world pattern of cooperation and development and fair competition, and gradually realizes the beautiful vision of mankind for a harmonious world. At the same time, such ideas and values have been internalized into rules and systems in the practice proposed by China for the participation of all countries, forming established international rules to be observed by all, and promoting the stability of the international order and the development and prosperity of the international system. The idea of a community with a shared future for mankind is a transcendence of the existing international order and is more ideal than the existing international order.
2) A security community based on equal consultation and interdependence
A community with a shared future for mankind is one that pursues global security. the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind is just a response and attitude to foreign public opinion ecology, advocating resolutely opposing all forms of terrorism, extremism and hegemonism in the field of security. We should resolve issues or disputes through dialogue and consultation, and coordinate responses to traditional and non-traditional security threats. To build a community with a shared future for mankind with common security, China has continuously transcended the barriers of social system and ideology and conducted exchanges and cooperation with other countries in the world to achieve common security and common development. China advocates a new security concept featuring "common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable" and opposes the coercive and zero-sum security concept of "I win, you lose". It calls on all countries to "resolve disputes through dialogue and differences through consultation", take coordinated actions to address various security challenges, combat terrorism in all its forms, and work together to build a world of universal security.
3) A community of win-win cooperation and common development
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has further deepened opening-up, providing an important driving force for the growth of the global economy, trade, and investment, and making outstanding contributions to the building of a mutually beneficial global value chain. Many countries have boarded the "express train" of China's economic take-off, and the vivid practice of building a community with a shared future for mankind has continuously released the dividends of win-win cooperation to the world. China has signed Belt and Road cooperation agreements with 80 countries and organizations, carried out institutionalized production capacity cooperation with more than 30 countries, and promoted the construction of 75 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in 24 countries along the Belt and Road. Chinese enterprises have invested more than US $50 billion in these countries and created nearly 200,000 jobs. As of July 2019, more than four years after its establishment, the number of AIIB members have increased from 57 at the beginning to 100. AIIB members account for 78% of the world's population and 63% of global GDP. AIIB has approved 46 loan projects from 18 members, with a total loan amount of 8.5 billion US dollars.
4) A community of civilizations that is open, inclusive, exchanges and mutual learning
Due to differences in historical conditions, levels of development, social systems, values and other aspects, different countries and nations have formed distinct cultures and diverse civilizations. The diversity of civilizations is a basic feature of the world, and it is also the source and driving force for the progress of human civilization. In particular, the ideas of "seeking common ground while reserving differences", "harmony in diversity" and "inclusiveness", which are nurtured in traditional Chinese culture, provide a good plan and idea for correctly handling the differences and conflicts among different civilizations. The vision of a community with a shared future for mankind emphasizes respect for the diversity of world civilizations, transcending estrangement through exchanges, resolving conflicts through mutual learning, and promoting integration through coexistence, to achieve harmonious coexistence of diverse civilizations and build a strong synergy of world civilizations.
5) Respect the ecological community of nature and harmonious sharing
The ultimate concern of the community of human destiny is the survival and development of human beings, and the survival and development of human beings are directly related to the change of global ecological environment. The Community of Human destiny focuses on solving global ecological problems and building an ecological community that respects nature and is shared in harmony, which constitutes the ecological heritage and internal provisions of the community of human destiny. This is because the harmonious development of man and nature is the objective condition of human survival and development. Therefore, the community of shared future for mankind must reflect the concern for the global ecosystem.
2. Belt & Road
From 2013 to 2018, Chinese enterprises' direct investment in countries along the Belt and Road exceeded US $90 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 5.2 percent, and the value of new overseas project contracts signed in these countries exceeded US $600 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 11.9 percent. As of April 2019, Chinese enterprises have built a number of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones in countries along the Belt and Road, with a cumulative investment of more than US $30 billion, which has become an important platform for local economic growth and industrial agglomeration and has created nearly 300,000 jobs in host countries.
3. Life community
In almost all Chinese public diplomacy studies, the life community is the most easily ignored value concept, which is often regarded as China's concept in the field of ecological environment construction. In fact, the community of life not only transcends the antagonism between ecological civilization and industrial civilization, surpasses the "ecological imperialism" prevailing in the West, thus leading the construction of global ecological civilization, but also symbolizes the self-transcendence of China and the self-transcendence of China's public diplomacy -- that is, the concept of public diplomacy advocated by China has surpassed human life itself. Think about the future of humanity and the world from the perspective of holistic life.
V. Conclusion
Through effective diplomatic work, China has gradually formed a great power diplomacy with Chinese characteristics. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping's foreign affairs ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, China's public diplomacy has been emphasized as never before, and a new era of Chinese public diplomacy has begun. The 19th National Congress has defined a system of great power diplomacy with distinctive Chinese characteristics and global significance in terms of ideology and strategic layout, and has made a top-level design for China's diplomacy, which is centrally summarized as the building of a community of shared destiny for mankind. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the practice and research of China's public diplomacy has a broad prospect and great significance.
Reference
[1]央视新闻. 讲好中国故事 传播中国音. 2022-02-19 https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1725170502452520483&wfr=spider&for=pc
[2]The Chinese Dream and Its Appeal. China today. 2013.12
[3]岳文典.公共外交视阈下中国传统文化的价值分析[D].北京:中共中央党校，2014:3.
[4]张方慧.新时代中国特色大国外交中的儒家文化内涵——以孔子思想为中心的考察[J].西南民族大学学报 ( 人文社会科学版)，2019(12):194.
[5]Qiu GenJiang. Chinese Traditional Culture and Violence[J].Academics,2014(11):53.
[6]袁南生.中国千年外交与主流价值观念[J].同舟共进，2018(12):49.
[7]王易.先秦儒家国际关系伦理思想研究[M].北京:线装书局，2007:34.
[8]石斌.重建“世界之中国”的核心价值观[J].国际政治研究，2007(3):10-15.
[9]赵启正，吕凤鼎，关呈远，赵进军，邢悦.“和主义”:中国公共外交的内核[J].公共外交季刊，2015(2): 72.
[10]阎学通，徐进.中国先秦国家间政治思想选读[M].上海:复旦大学出版社，2008:29-30.
[11]Nye. Joseph. 2008. Public Diplomacy and Soft Power, The Annals of the American Academy,95.
[12] (美)约瑟夫·奈.马娟娟译.软实力:权力，从硬实力到软实力[M].北京:中信出版社，2013:15.
[13]Nye. Joseph. 2017. Soft power: the origins and political progress of a concept, Palgrave Commun 3, 17008 (2017).
[14]张燕. 党的十八大以来中国公共外发展研究[D].兰州大学,2021.
[15]王莉丽.公共外交:多元理论与舆论战略研究[M].北京:中国社会科学出版社，2018:64-65.
[16]Stephen Roach. Accidental Conflict: America, China, and the Clash of False Narratives. Yale University Press. 2022.11
[17]郑必坚.世界热议中国:寻求共同繁荣之路[M].北京:中信出版社，2013:5.
[18]朝着构建人类命运共同体方向不断迈进. 人民日报 https://www.hxw.gov.cn/content/2022/09/25/13955348.html
[19]弘扬人类命运共同体文化理念,构筑共同安全.人民网. http://www.china.com.cn/guoqing/2019-06/19/content_74900279.htm
[20]坚持共同、综合、合作、可持续的安全观. 央视网 https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1765240331813266409&wfr=spider&for=pc
[21]胡鞍钢，李萍.习近平构建人类命运共同体思想与中国方案[J].新疆师范大学学报，2018(5):13.
[22]亚投行成员总数破百.环球网. https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1639825950019520032&wfr=spider&for=pc
[23]吴宁，章书俊.生态文明与“生命共同体”“人类命运共同体”[J].理论与评论，2018(3):18.
[24]王雨萧，于佳欣. 我国对一带一路沿线国家直接投资超 900 亿美元. 新华社 https://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2019-04/19/content_5384322.h
文字：孟思芹 Anna Biķerniece
审核：郝利群 薛晓芃 吕平
编辑：陈宇琛 彭昕
