Research On Decision - Making Participation Of Chinese Diplomatic Think Tank

China’s reform and opening-up period is coupled with the state’s attempts infacilitating “democratization” and “scientification” in the decision-making process.The past three decades have witnessed diversification and professionalization of theforeign policy decision-making group, which is evident in the establishment anddevelopment of foreign affairs think tanks. Within the Chinese context, theseinstitutes, which are quasi-bureaucratic organs in nature, have to rely heavily on thegovernment financially and administratively.This research applies corporatism into its theoretical analysis, which sheds light onhow a dominant state has co-opted social forces into the state structure for the purposeof political stability. The strength in employing a corporatist framework to interpretforeign affairs think tanks’ behavior lies in its effectiveness in discussing why theyadopt certain mode of practices in terms of foreign policy formulation.Foreign affairs think tanks’ participation in making is analyzed at three stages. First,think tank researchers’ political capital is the premise on which they can interact withdecision makers. Epistemic capital refers to their ability to bring expertise topolicy-makers by utilizing their specialized knowledge while network capitalemphasizes the importance of interpersonal relations. Second, it examines the meansby which think tank scholars manage to get engaged with decision makers. This canbe achieved institutionally or individually through their participation in forumdiscussions and presence in media. Lastly, in the process of illuminatingconsequences of these engagements, this research concludes that under the corporatistumbrella, direct influence exerted by Chinese foreign affairs think tanks is still limited.This is evident both in decision-makers’ lack of demand, and think tanks’ shortage ofsupply. Nonetheless, their indirect influence as intermediate public diplomacy actorsshould not be underestimated.