Problematising China’s soft power: setbacks of Confucius Institutes and the decentralisation of its international language and culture promotion strategy

Abstract

The Confucius Institute (CI), as China’s flagship soft power initiative, experienced rapid development in its early years, reaching 500 centres worldwide in just over a decade. However, the past few years have seen a wave of CI closures, especially in the US, where more than 100 CIs have been closed, problematising China’s soft power efforts. In response, China revised its international language and culture promotion (ILCP) strategy in mid-2020 by abolishing the CI Headquarters/Hanban and creating two sperate organisations: the Chinese International Education Foundation (CIEF) and the Centre for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC). This shift demonstrates a decentralising trend across three dimensions: administrative, political, and fiscal. This article explores the reasons behind the CI’s rapid development and recent setbacks, examines the details of China’s decentralised ILCP strategy, and finds that the positive effects of this strategy are yet to be seen.