China's Cultural Diplomacy Towards Ukraine After 1992

The political reputation of any country is determined not only by its political influence and economic resources,but by the cultural potential as well.For many countries propaganda of the cultural heritage abroad is one of the foreign policy priorities.Modern international relations rely a lot on soft power which is mostly used by the countries seeking to strengthen their influence on international arena.The existing work generally focuses on the importance of cultural diplomacy and soft power in the modern world taking Sino-Ukrainian relations as an example.For China soft power and promotion of the country`s image are important tools of its diplomacy.Official diplomatic relations between China and Ukraine were established in 1992,shortly after Ukraine gained independence from the USSR.From then on,China and Ukraine experienced the improvement of bilateral relations and strengthened the ties of friendship.However,regardless of many activities and educational programs encouraged by the governments of China and Ukraine,the ties between two countries are not close enough.Thus,the main task for the further mutual cooperation between China and Ukraine is to get free of prejudice and misperceptions and create closer ties.The main objective of this thesis is to analyze how effective Chinese cultural diplomacy is and which means it uses to project it.Another objective is to study the development of relations between China and Ukraine since the establishment of diplomatic relations.Finally,we would like to evaluate the image of China for Ukrainians and to define the prospects of closer cooperation between China and Ukraine in the future.In terms of methodology used,this study is mostly based on theoretical analysis and historical research.The materials used throughout the study include both official and non-official sources.Academic writings,books,internet sources,newspaper and journal articles as well as speeches of the governmental officials were utilized.The first chapter elaborates on the theory of cultural diplomacy and soft power.Different conceptualizations of these terms by various researchers will be provided.In the second chapter,the soft power character of Chinese foreign policy and the development of Sino-Ukrainian relations since 1992 will be discussed.The chapter begins with exploring the main determinants of the Chinese foreign policy and its vision of soft power.The next section of the chapter provides an overview of the history of Sino-Ukrainian relations and how they developed since the official establishment in 1992.In the third chapter the main issue of China`s cultural diplomacy towards Ukraine will be investigated.First section will focus on the ways of cultural exchange between two countries.The analysis of the means of cultural diplomacy is bounded to the theoretical framework presented in the theory-related chapter.The case study will help to estimate the effectiveness of Chinese cultural diplomacy and what kind of image China possesses for Ukrainian people.Chapter four reviews the prospects for cooperation and cultural exchange between China and Ukraine in the upcoming years.Conclusion part summarizes the findings of this thesis and presents their interpretation by the researcher.