Building China's Soft Power for a Peaceful Rise

Abstract

With its rapid economic growth and deepening integration into the global system, Chinese leaders see the first 20 years of the 21st century as an 'important period of strategic opportunity' for China. China under Hu Jintao's leadership has chosen a new path of peaceful rise. To facilitate such a peaceful rise, Chinese Communist Party has gradually adopted a soft power strategy. We see building soft power as a means as well as the end of China's peaceful rise. We argue China has a genuine desire for peace in her rise and China's peaceful rise may not be impossible. Based on existing literature, we expand the sources of soft power to six pillars: cultural attractiveness, political values, development model, international institutions, international image, and economic temptation. We also identify three channels for wielding soft power: formal, economic, and cultural diplomacies. Putting all the basics together, we have proposed an integrative model of soft power. Accordingly, we analyze the sources and limits of China's soft power and suggest how to improve it in these six areas. © 2010 Journal of Chinese Political Science/Association of Chinese Political Studies.