The Application Of Cultural Diplomacy In Local Foreign Affairs

Cultural diplomacy is one of today’s hot topics in China. China is now in a critical period of full-scale revival. While developing in a fast speed economically, we focus highly on how to conduct cultural diplomacy and how to use it to build an honest, faithful and responsible government. Unlike political diplomacy, military diplomacy and economical diplomacy, Cultural diplomacy is a soft power and an important part of the nation’s national strategy. However, the majority of the study on cultural diplomacy in China is now mainly on national level instead of local level. People have not paid enough attention on the importance of local government’s activities of cultural diplomacy. This thesis will discuss the Chinese cultural diplomacy from the view of the practice of local government and try to find a new perspective for China’s cultural diplomacy.This thesis is divided into4parts. The1st part will discuss the scholastic literature and basic concept of cultural diplomacy. The2nd part will discuss the cultural diplomacy of the local government on its significance, acting model, characteristics, and existing problems. The3rd part will make some typical examples on the local government’s practice of cultural diplomacy. The4th part will give some feasible policy suggestions on China’s cultural diplomacy from the view of local foreign affairs.The object of this thesis is to explain the new situation Chinese local government is facing since the beginning of the new century using the theories of international relations and try to find out how local governments could intensively expand their international exchange to serve the local economic, social, and cultural interests.The innovation points in this thesis are:First, analyze the local cultural external relations in detail using the theory of sub-national government; secondly, analyze the development of the subject and the acting model of local cultural external relations; third, make author’s own suggestions on how to improve the local competitiveness and cultural soft power of China’s local government.