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Present Situation Of China's Soft Power

Posted on:2013-09-08Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:X W JuFull Text:PDF
GTID:2246330395450046Subject:International relations
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Culture is the soul of the country and its people, that is to say, culture embodies and defines their character. The power of culture is deeply rooted in the vitality, creativity and cohesion of the country, so it can be a spiritual support which strengthens national solidarity and also promotes the development of the country. Culture is not a vague concept but is specifically reflected in national policies. Over the years, the cultural power was not seen as an important factor to measure the power of countries, military force and economic power had been much more valued. However, since Joseph S. Nye proposed the concept of soft power, cultural factors have come to be considered as an important factor to measure a country’s comprehensive national power.In general,"Culture" and "Language" are very closely linked with each other, in fact, they have an inseparable relationship, because language is the carrier of the culture, and culture is the core of the language. When a country’s language is considered as an official language in the world, it generally reflects the country’s international status and influence. As many scholars have asserted, to internationalize a country’s language is one of the most symbolic hot issues in soft power competition today. Many countries have included promoting their language in the national strategy-proof that this task is becoming increasingly important.In the case of China, its huge land size, rapid economic development and the particularity of the political system have led to the "China threat" theory. In order to dilute this bias, increasing China’s soft power becomes highly important. However, although promoting cultural exchange among countries is an effective way to increase soft power, for the current situation, if the government actively takes actions for expanding its soft power, it usually tends to cause alertness and concerns for other countries. Therefore, to establish and to spread the Confucius Institute all over the world is not only effective for cultural diffusion and language dissemination, but also for spreading Chinese values and thoughts in the world. Through establishing the Confucius Institute in the world, China has successfully promoted the Chinese language, academic training and cultural exchange. Until the end of August2011, China has established353Confucius Institutes and473Confucius Classrooms, a total of826, distributed in104countries (regions).The Confucius Institute has been evaluated as the successful representative of China’s soft power and "Go-out" strategy of the Chinese government. But, at the same time, because of its rapid development and expansion in a short period of time, the Confucius Institute is facing internal and external problems and criticism, leaving room for some questions and doubts. Can promoting Chinese language education in other countries and establishing the Confucius Institute really increase China’s soft power? If the Confucius Institute is playing a role in increasing China’s soft power, how much would it be? Concerning this mutual influence between China’s soft power and the development of Confucius Institutes, existing studies are still relatively scarce. For the purpose of the long-term development of Confucius Institutes, we should look to ways of improving the roles of the Confucius Institutes and remedies to solve existing problems efficiently as soon as possible. On this account, this thesis is objectively introducing the overall situation of China’s soft power, and trying to strengthen understanding of the developing trend of the Confucius Institute and its significance. The thesis also analyzes the real influence of the Confucius Institute on China’s soft power in order to make a positive contribution to their enterprise and the further developments of China’s soft power.
Keywords/Search Tags:China’s soft power, Soft power resources, Confucius Institute
PDF Full Text Request
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