Analysis Of Soft Power Of China’s Education Project In Mexico:From A Mexican Perspective

China has undoubtedly become a key actor of the international relations arena mainly given to its virtually unprecedented economic growth.This remarkable economic performance has definitely led this country to a series of deep transformations in several key areas.Some of the most important transformations that China has been through are strongly associated with radical changes on its relations with multiple governments and communities around the world.The mentioned economic growth and other factors have been some of the most crucial elements that have fostered the increase of the capacity of influence of China over many other countries.Therefore,this phenomenon has also generated major changes in the perception of the role of its international policies.The opinions that have risen in virtually all sectors,including scholars and commercial organizations,regarding such increase of influence are dramatically diverse.This has also generated new trends of interest of the international community towards Chinese culture,history and the internal dynamics of its society in general.On the other hand,there is also a growing interest on the impact that these elements might have in various regions around the world.China’s increasing influence capacity has been accompanied by a relative growth in its military capacity.However,this country has definitely chosen to give a very high priority to the use of peaceful methods for enhancing the increase and improvement of its international influence.Some of these methods virtually do not imply economic pressures or imposition of other types of sanctions,or coercive interference in international politics.Moreover,the elements of such approach are part of the strategies,which are constantly associated with China’s so-called "soft power".Nevertheless,given the radical importance that economic trends hold in contemporary society,soft power still remains as a rather unexplored subject in many of its dimensions and potential connotations and implications.During the 19 th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party,president Xi Jinping emphasized that soft power is one of the main elements of international policy that China will continue to develop in the future.This is especially significanht and relevant given recent achievements in terms of expansion of this Chinese endeavor.The political and ideological leaderships of the country have set a route to continue the rise of its global capacity to influence the perception of the role and characteristics of a new China.This might have several types of impacts.One of the main impacts is undoubtedly connected to playing a very significant role in creating contrast with pieces of news coming from other countries that occasionally present rather questionable and inaccurate views of China.This thesis assumes that although China has promoted several projects that encourage this so-called "soft power"(for example by expanding its television network companies and its news agencies),the project called Confucius Institute has been precisely designated as the main appointed official institution in charge to disseminate and promote various aspects of China which are widely admired by a great portion of the international community,such as the language,culture and history of this country.This institution is consistently regarded as the most important element in China’s "soft power",carrying out strategies around the world.Its recent accelerated expansion has caused great admiration for how quickly it has grown in many countries around the world,thus significantly increasing the number of students of Mandarin Chinese language.However,this rapid and unexpected expansion has also caused that this institute receive strong criticism from researchers from several countries.One of the main criticisms towards this institute relies on the speculations that its presence might promote other types of projects,not only connected to the expansion of Chinese language and culture,among other impacts in the host communities.In the case of Mexico,this institute has also experienced a significant growth in this Latin American country,since it currently has five Confucius Institute centers.These five institutes are spread throughout country,in the northern,central and southern part of it.However,there is relatively little documentation that analyzes the impact that this institute might have in Mexico,as well as the impact of the actions derived from its presence.For example,one of these potential impacts is the promotion of exchange mechanisms so that Mexican students can go to study to various Chinese universities.Some of these students go to some of the most important Chinese cities through financial support associated with this institution.The relationship between China and Mexico has been basically driven by the great economic power of this Asian country,derived from the technological superiority and capability to produce high-value-added goods and services.Moreover,there are very decisive market competition factors associated to the type of relationship that China and Mexico have developed.Some of these factors have to do with the fact that in some aspects,both of them produce similar products,under similar conditions for similar markets.Despite these challenges,there is also great potential involved in the future of the relationship between Mexico and China,which is currently going through a stage of relative stagnation,taking into account the little efficient organizations that has taken place through the mechanisms of cooperation between China and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.In this context it is highly relevant to analyze the posture and opinions of certain members of Mexican society,especially the ones who have certain previous knowledge about China,so that they can contribute to the development of proposals that could bring win-win conditions in the pursuit of the soft power of China over Mexico,given that some of the premises of the soft power have to do with using non coercive ways to promote foreign policy agendas.Therefore,it is of great importance presenting the perspective of members of the Mexican community involved in different ways in the development of the relationship between China and Mexico.On the other hand,although Mexico and China have had previous experiences in terms of collaborative educational projects in the past,the presence of the Confucius Institute nowadays takes place in radically different conditions compared to those previous decades,given the contemporary political and economic situation of the context.The importance of this thesis is associated to the rather small amount of documentation about the potential impact of the soft power of the Confucius Institute in Mexico.On the other hand,another great motivation has to do with the need of proper analysis of other mechanisms of collaboration between China and Mexico,beyond the commercial paradigms that,as mentioned,present several challenges.This thesis is comprised by the foundations and trends of chinese soft power,the trends of soft power in Mexico and a case study of the soft power of the Confucius Institute in Mexico.This thesis analyzes the level of knowledge that some Mexicans have regarding the operation and impact of the Confucius Institute in Mexico.It also comprises some proposals regarding how Mexican institutions and companies could get involved in such project.It also shows certain ideas and concerns regarding the potential future impacts in case of a rapid expansion of Chinese language and culture throughout mexican society,as a key component of soft power.