China’s Faith Diplomacy

Abstract

China has had a long history with faith diplomacy that can be traced back 2,000 years to when Buddhism was first introduced into the country. Since then China has engaged in official and nonofficial interactions with foreign religions, including Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, Christianity, and Islam, along with Buddhism. China also promoted its native-born faiths such as Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism. Today, as China has become a major power player in the world, it seeks to boost its “soft power” by tapping various faiths for diplomatic purposes. This chapter will first review China’s faith diplomacy in its premodern history and then go on to analyze contemporary faith diplomacy as part of China’s soft-power campaign.