Public Diplomacy in the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

Public diplomacy may not be a current term in China, yet China has certainly developed a remarkable array of activities that together form a consistent and quite effective public diplomacy policy. Perceptions and the behaviour of both China’s domestic and international publics are having a growing impact on China’s foreign policy. Rising to play a more substantial role in world politics and economics, and often feeling misjudged by the international community, the Chinese leadership is increasingly making effective use of public diplomacy tools to project an image of China that in their view does more justice to reality: China as a trustworthy, cooperative, peace-loving, developing country that takes good care of its enormous population. Examples of this are China’s role as honest broker and responsible world power in the North Korean nuclear crisis, China’s campaign to win the 2008 Olympic Games, and its policy to convince neighbouring countries that they do not have to fear a rising China.