• Strategy21
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• s.33
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• pp.5-36
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• 2014

This article aims to analyze the diplomatic challenges currently facing China as well as the foreign policy the Xi Jinping administration is adopting to address them. With these purposes in mind, it will look into three areas: first, diplomatic tasks confronting the Xi leadership; second, foreign policy that the Xi administration has implemented since the 18th Party Congress in 2012; and third, the prospects for China's foreign policy under the Xi leadership. As the Xi Jinping administration entered into office, it has encountered two major diplomatic challenges. One is the searching for a new foreign policy, and the other the restructuring of the existing foreign affairs and national security systems. The Xi administration, during its first year in office, has responded actively to tackle these issues. To begin with, it has attempted to make some adjustments on foreign policy while maintaining the Deng Xiaoping line of foreign policy. One of these modifications is placing emphasis on national "core interest," as illustrated by changes in guideline for maritime conflicts, pushing for building maritime power, and proclamation of Air Defense Identification Zone in the East China Sea. Second is the decision on the new guideline for peripheral diplomacy. That is, the administration regarded creating peaceful and stable environments to realize "Chinese Dream" as an important goal of foreign policy, and proposed such new guiding ideology as "familiarity, integrity, benefit, and accommodation." In additoin, the Xi administration restructured the existing foreign affairs and national security systems. Establishing the Central State Security Committee and the Internet Leading Small Group (LSG) are cases in point. As comprehensive organizations for policy coordination that encompass party, government, and military, the two LSGs are in charge of enacting related policies and fine-tuning policy implementation, based upon leadership consisting of chiefs of each relevant organs. Moreover, since Xi himself became the chief of these two newly-found organs, the conditions under which these LSGs could demonstrate unified leadership and adjusting role in its implementation of military, diplomatic, and security policies were developed. The future Chinese diplomacy will be characterized with three main trends. First, peripheral diplomacy will be reinforced. The peripheral diplomacy has become far more important since the Work Conference on Peripheral Diplomacy in October 2013. Second, economic diplomacy will be strengthened with an eye on reducing the "China Threat Theory," which still exists in Asia. Third, the policies to isolate the Philippines and Japan will continue in regard to maritime disputes. All in all, Chinese diplomacy in the Xi Jinping era is likely to feature practical diplomacy which combines both hard and soft approaches to best realize Chinese national interest.

• Journal of Public Diplomacy
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.53-80
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• 2022

Despite an astronomical budget for public diplomacy, China is experiencing successive failures in public diplomacy. The unfavorable feeling towards China is increasing every year in the world and China needs a new public diplomacy to resolve anti-Chinese sentiment. Here, we found that viewers of Korean-Chinese student YouTuber Deemd formed a friendly image towards China after watching Deemd's China vlog. Therefore, in this study, we tried to examine whether Deemd's vlogs affect the improvement of China's country image theoretically guided by the theory of mere exposure effect. In addition, we examined whether the improvement of a country image causes the 'Halo effect' that leads to an increase in the intention to visit China and purchase intention of Chinese products. It is expected that the results of this study can serve as a new digital media diplomacy solution for countries, including China, that want to capture the hearts of foreign public in the era of a new digital public diplomacy.

• Journal of Public Diplomacy
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.80-110
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• 2021

Public diplomacy (PD) scholars tend to consider two main principals: the country or agent that conducts PD (Actor A), and target groups in the host country in which PD is conducted (Actor B). The field currently lacks theories of how communications between Actors A and B can be disrupted by a third party, such as a group of motivated trolls, an organised advocacy group, or a hostile country and its agents. The purpose of this article is to outline some theoretical considerations for how the PD research field might move away from a two-actor model of PD to one in which disruption is part of the discussion. The case study explores the activities of an interest group called Media Watchdogs of Sweden (MEWAS). MEWAS was a group of around 200 members who met in a hidden Facebook group to coordinate off-platform activities aimed at influencing perceptions of how the Swedish government handled the COVID-19 pandemic in the eyes of foreign governments, researchers, decision-makers, and media. Much critical news coverage in the international press has been linked to this group. Unpacking some of MEWAS' activities, which can be considered a quite typical mixture of legitimate and illegitimate communication techniques used by activist groups, can help to shed light on some difficult questions regarding disruption in PD.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-23
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• 2021

With regard to the recent developments in public diplomacy, the increasing fusion of strategic communication appears necessary. China engages in public diplomacy with a strategic purpose to shape its national image abroad. Hosting diplomatic advocacy event is regarded as an instrument with expectations to present reliable and responsible image and promote international collaborations. The present research focuses on the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in May 2017 with the objective to analyze its outcomes and influence on the international news agenda, news frames, and foreign citizens' comments online. The quantitative content analyses are used to compare the media reports (N=364) and Facebook users' comments on the selected news (N=957) between the US and Pakistan. Results reveal that Pakistani media provided more diverse frames and attributed more positive evaluations to the BRF than the US media. However, Facebook comments expressed more unfavorable opinions toward the BRF and China's image with rare differences between two countries. In conclusion, the BRF has served as an eye-catching advocacy of Chinese foreign policy, as it influenced the news agenda in two selected countries. However, news frames vary due to the differences in media system and the involvement in the BRF. China's public diplomacy practices follow a traditional top-down communication which needs meticulous subdivision of target stakeholders, delicate messaging strategies, and integrated tactics.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.7
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• pp.169-184
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• 2020

This paper analyzes the implications of the change in the way China conducts public diplomacy, through an in-depth study of international education programs promoted under China's public diplomacy strategy. The leadership of Xi Jinping is now trying for China to become the top power in the world, not just a G2 country, based on China's economic growth over the past 40 years. Also, as a vision for the goal, the leadership is presenting the dream of the great revival of the Chinese nation. Currently, the international education program promoted at the level of public diplomacy in China is operated in an active, mid- to long-term manner within the national strategy, away from the past passive and responsive method. In other words, while China's past international education program was a passive model for dispelling the "Chinese Threat Theory," China's current international education program is evolving into an active model that can promote the "Chinese" order in the world.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.49-91
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• 2022

Recent years have witnessed renewed interest in Africa and public diplomacy has emerged as the vital tool being used to cultivate these relations. China has been leading in pursuing stronger economic partnership with Africa while middle powers such as Korea are also intensifying engagement with the continent. While previous studies have analyzed the implications of China's activities in Africa on advanced powers, none has examined them from the paradigm of middle powers. This study fills this gap by assessing China's activities in Africa, their economic engagement and implications for Korea's interest in Africa. The analysis is qualitative based on secondary data from various sources and literature. The study shows that China's public diplomacy strategy involves a high degree of innovation and has evolved to encompass new tools and audiences. China has institutionalized a cooperative model that permeates many aspects of governance institutions in Africa, enabling it to strengthen their relations. This could also be helping China to adjust faster leadership transitions in Africa. Whereas the US is still the most influential country in Africa, China is influential in economic policies and has outstripped the US in infrastructure diplomacy. This could be because African policy makers align more with China's economic model than the US' mainstream economics. Chinese aid to Africa has been diversified to social sectors that are more responsive to the needs of Africa. Trade and investment relations between China and Africa have deepened, but so does trade imbalance since 2010. China mainly imports natural resources and raw materials from Africa. But this product portfolio is not different from Korea and the US. China's energetic insertion in Africa using various strategies has significant implications for countries with ambitions in Africa. Korea can achieve its ambitions in Africa by focusing resources in areas it can leverage its core strengths-such as education and vocational training, environmental policy and development cooperation.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.1-10
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• 2021

This study sought ways to strengthen the competitiveness of local governments using public diplomacy, especially in Chungcheongbuk-do, at a time when it is urgent to revitalize the local economy by attracting investment from domestic and foreign companies due to changes in the global supply chain. The main issues that have recently emerged in the global business environment include strengthening the localization of the global value chain, diversifying reshoring and supply chains, and creating an efficient global value chain through digital transformation. Therefore, this study emphasized the necessity of a strategy for public diplomacy based on these changes, and derived the response conditions and detailed strategies of Chungcheongbuk-do through SWOT analysis. In addition, based on the ABCD model, we set up a Chungbuk-type public diplomacy strategy and suggested strategic implications for upgrading Chungbuk's competitiveness.

• Analyses & Alternatives
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.13-30
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• 2017

Referred to as a 'media war,' there is a fierce competition for media discourse between different countries. Twenty four hour global news channels like Al Jazeera, France 24, RT, NHK World, China's CCTV and teleSUR emerged to offer their own perspectives and stance in the global society, and to face the monopolization and distorted information created by the hegemony of English news channels which have swayed international public opinions for a long time. As a tool of public diplomacy, the media's role in determining the image of the nation and winning the 'Hearts and Minds' of the international community is decisive, but it cannot be said that they all have a similar influence or play a positive role in media diplomacy. A global news channel, which is both a media diplomatic subject and a journalism organization, can be in the position of acting as a public relations organization or a propaganda agency for the government depending on the regime's attitude because most of global news channels receive support from the government. Sometimes it is difficult for these media to implement quality journalism because of financial difficulties. Media discourse also has limitations in that it is dependent upon changes in foreign policy of its own government. This study examines the current status of global news channels, the dilemma these channels are facing, and suggests some potential directions that can be taken by global news channels in order to become more effective. It is becoming increasingly important for all nations to respond to distorted information about their own countries, to appropriately identify various issues and changes in the international community and to convey their views and positions to the international community. For now, there is a lack of awareness about the importance of media diplomacy in Korea: There are many English-language media, but as yet no global news channel which could have an influence on the international stage. However, there seems to be some understanding about the need for the media to present the Korean alternative discourse to the senseless dependency on Western media. We hope that this study will be an opportunity to think in depth about the attitude of the Korean global media, whether existing global media or new global news channels, in order to help them become more effective in media diplomacy.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.27-45
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• 2012

Among political scientists, Japan's free trade agreements (FTA) with member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been considered to be a political tool that can compete against China for regional leadership in East Asia. However, this paper demonstrates that Japan's so-called FTA diplomacy towards ASEAN nations serves the broad interests of Japanese actors in both the political and economic sectors. Given the attention to Japanese domestic political issues, it is argued that diplomacy primarily facilitates a need for free trade with ASEAN and ASEAN markets for Japanese corporations to compete in the global economy and for the government to nurture Japan's stagnant economy by assisting these corporations. This work also contends that the unclear function of FTA as an economic good is due to the lack of the government capacity to effectively manage FTA diplomacy. This partly results from the conventional view with regard to Sino-Japanese rivalry.

• Journal of Contemporary Eastern Asia
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.27-49
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• 2018

Public Diplomacy (PD) is the third pillar of South Korean foreign policy. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PD aims to attract foreign audiences by means of art, knowledge transmission, media, language and foreign aid. When it comes to the Korean language, its global profile has seen an especially marked increase in recent years (Kim, 2009). Thus, this paper's objective is to explain the relevance of the Korean language in the generation of South Korea's soft power. I draw from $C{\acute{e}}sar$ Villanueva's reflections in order to problematize how language promotion can be translated into soft power at five different levels: the empathetic, the sympathetic, the geopolitical, the diplomatic and the utilitarian. I observe that in the case of the Korean language in Mexico City, soft power has the potential to be generated on three levels: it helps to increase knowledge of Korean culture (empathetic); it exercises symbolic persuasion (geopolitical), since the products of cultural industries are mostly in Korean; and it is used as a tool for economic transactions in Mexico City (utilitarian).