An Analysis Of China’s Cultural Diplomac

Cultural influence has been widely believed as one of the most significant aspects of softpower and is usually what comes to mind when thinking of soft power mechanisms. Aspiring toplay a major role in global politics as well as improving its international image that has beendamaged by the ‘China threat’ argument, China realizes that its cultural rise will augument itsstrategic rise hence the promotion of its culture in other countries through the practice of culturaldiplomacy. This study aims to analyze the cultural diplomatic efforts of China by focusing on itsoverseas Chinese language and cultural promotion institutes known as Confucius Institutes. TheConfucius Institutes project can be seen at one level as an attempt to increase Chinese languagelearning and an appreciation of Chinese culture but at another level as a part of a broader softpower projection in which China is attempting to win the hearts and minds of foreign publics. Inan effort to build and protect its image worldwide, China has realized that the promotion of itslanguage is one of the basic elements to build up its soft power. This research is significantbecause a positive image of China in other countries is crucial for the sustainability of China’sdevelopment and the acceptance of its global power ambition. The policy implications of theresearch findings provide the policy makers and administrators of Confucius Institutes withvaluable guidance on how to improve the effectiveness of the institutes in promoting Chineselanguage and culture.As language and cultural institutions of China, Confucius Institutes have been regarded as acrucial cultural diplomacy instrument of China. With an alarming rate of increase of ConfuciusInstitutes in the world since their establishment in2004, there are different opinions on whetherthe Confucius Institutes are wielding China’s soft power with some scholars arguing thatConfucius Institutes are raising China’s soft power whilst other scholars claiming that theseinstitutes are not wielding China’s soft power. Despite the increasing debates on whetherConfucius Institutes can wield China’s soft power, little empirical analysis has been done toascertain the role of the institutes in improving China’s image and wielding its soft power. Someof the discussions of the project’s role in wielding China’s soft power have been based ongeneralizations of the project without conducting empirical research on individual ConfuciusInstitutes. With such conflicting arguments in the existing literature on the ability of the Confucius Institutes project to raise China’s soft power, this thesis conducts an empiricalresearch of theUniversity of Zimbabwe Confucius Institute (UZCI) which has not yet been studied byresearchers. Zimbabwe provide a useful site for case study of the CIs project since it havedeveloped strong and fast-growing economic and political relations with China in recent years.However despite the close bilateral relations between the two countries, there exist somenegative perceptions of China in Zimbabwe within the generality of the Zimbabwean population.The study aims to provide answers to three research questions. Is the UZCI wielding China’s softpower in Zimbabwe? Does the activities and programs of the UZCI affect positively ornegatively the Zimbabweans perceptions of China or they do not have any effect? Are theproblems and suspicions claimed by critics of CIs really existing at the UZCI? If yes, to whatextent? Through answering these questions, this study enriches the existing literature ofanalyzing China’s cultural diplomacy through the Confucius Institutes project which has becomepopular among the scholarly circles.To analyse the UZCI as a cultural diplomacy initiative of China in Zimbabwe, the effects ofthe activities of the UZCI on Zimbabweans perceptions of China are embodied and demonstratedbased on empirical data collected through questionnaires that were administered to former andcurrent students of the UZCI as well as information from books, journals, newspaper articles,organizational newsletters and from the world wide web. The research illustrates on whether theactivities of the UZCI are affecting positively or negatively the Zimbabweans perceptions ofChina. This will provide a test on the compliments and criticisms that has been levelled on theConfucius Institute project by different scholars. This research is done under the framework ofthe soft power theory and the concept of cultural diplomacy. The research findings indicates thatthe activities of the UZCI are affecting the student’s perceptions of China in a more positive way.The results of the study shows that there has been a shift of mindset among the UZCI’s studentsfrom having negative perceptions about China before their enrolment at the institute to a positiveperception after learning at the institute.This study has shown that the establishment of the UZCI to promote the learning of Chineselanguage and culture in Zimbabwe have met with some success in creating a positive image ofChina within the Chinese learning students. Such an impressive success look set to continue intothe future although there are some challenges that are hampering the full effectiveness of the institute. Among them is the institute’s over concentration on traditional Chinese culture at theexpense ofcontemporary Chinese culture. Also the UZCI sphere of influence is still limited to theUniversityof Zimbabwe and its affiliate six Confucius Classrooms which constitute a tinysegment of Zimbabwe thereby reducing the project’s impact on the entire country. Although theUZCI is still in its primary stages of development, it have a potential to wield more China’s softpower in the future in Zimbabwe if the authorities could spare no effort to overcome the existingchallenges in the entire system of Confucius Institutes based on the recommendations offered inthis thesis. Future studies can be done through incorporating the views of the administrators ofthe UZCI, Hanban as well as getting the views of students and administrators of the sixConfucius Classroms in Zimbabwe.