A Comparative Study On The Role Of Confucius Institutes In Africa In Carrying Out Public Diplomacy

China’s pace of integration into the world became faster with it’s economic and social development.The Chinese government attaches great importance to the shaping of the country’s image and actively strengthens the understanding of foreign people about China through various means.Public diplomacy,as an important aspect of a country’s diplomatic relations,is a process of communication between a government and the foreign public.It aims to explain to the foreign public a country’s own thoughts and opinions,systems and cultures,as well as their national goals and policies.In recent years,the status and role of public diplomacy in the shaping of national image has been more and more recognized and concerned.Despite the complexity of international relations,China’s relations with Africa have been stable for a long time.On the basis of China Africa friendship,many African countries have become part of the China’s one belt,one road initiative.China’s cooperation with other African countries in economic,trade and humanities is developing rapidly.Like other countries and regions,African countries are increasingly having demand for Chinese language learning.However,of the 541 Confucius Institutes and 1170 Confucius Classrooms established in 162 countries(February 2020 data),only 46 countries in Africa have 61 Confucius Institutes and 48 Confucius Classrooms.The number of Confucius Institutes in Africa accounts for only 11.2%of the world’s total.While teaching Chinese,Confucius Institute has played a positive role in cultural exchange,and objectively become a way for China to carry out foreign public diplomacy.Limited by the number of Confucius Institutes,national conditions and other reasons,the function of Confucius Institutes in public diplomacy in Africa is bound to be affected,and also showing some differences between countries.On the basis of literature analysis,considering the national conditions,national political system,education system,language and cultural background,economic situation and other factors of different African countries,research was carried out on the Confucius Institute of Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria,Confucius Institute of Antananarivo University in Madagascar,Confucius Institute of Yaounde Second University in Cameroon and Confucius Institute of Ghana University,and their functions in carrying out China’s Public diplomacy.This paper compared the public diplomacy functions of Confucius Institutes in these African countries in China from two aspects:one is to compare the public diplomacy functions of Confucius Institutes in Africa with those in other regions;the other is from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds,economic development levels,and cooperation with China.This paper also compared factors influencing Confucius Institutes public diplomacy functions in these four African countries.It was discovered that Confucius Institutes in Africa do play a role in China’s public diplomacy,but due to factors such as quantity,scale and national conditions,such public diplomacy is still limited in Africa.Although Confucius Institutes in different African countries play a common role in content of information spread,national economic situation and the impact of relations with China,there are also differences in the impact of education system and national political system.In addition,the Confucius Institute’s exhibition of China’s public diplomacy function also has similarities and differences in Africa and other regions.The commonality is mainly reflected in the content of content of information spread and the organizational structure of the Confucius Institute,and the main differences are reflected in the national political system,teaching system and Sino-foreign relation etc.On this basis,this paper analyzes and compares the factors that affect the Confucius Institute’s public diplomacy function in Africa and other regions,and puts forward suggestions for the sustainable development of Confucius Institute in Africa from the aspects of its scale development and expansion direction.This paper consists of six chapters:Chapter one which is the introduction,introduces the background,significance,literature review,research basis,research methods and research innovation.The second chapter introduces cultural diplomacy,public diplomacy,soft power and national image,and further explains the logical relationship between these terms.The third chapter is the status quo of Confucius Institute in Africa and China’s public diplomacy in Africa.It introduces China Africa relations,the overview and development process of Confucius Institute in Africa,the development of Confucius Institute’s organizational structure,software and hardware resources,and the basic situation of the four Confucius Institutes being researched.The fourth chapter is the study on the public diplomacy function of Confucius Institute in Africa.It introduces the research design and purpose.Through the interviews,it puts forward the research findings,discusses and concludes the problems.The fifth chapter is a comparison of Confucius Institutes in Africa and other regions in China’s public diplomacy.It compares the impact of Sino-foreign relations on the public diplomacy function of Confucius Institutes,the impact of different political systems on the public diplomacy of Confucius Institutes,the impact of different national education policies on the public diplomacy function of Confucius Institutes,the impact of the organizational structure of Confucius Institutes on its public diplomacy function.Chapter Six which is the conclusion,summarizes this thesis,and puts forward the relevant achievements of the research and exploration,as well as the areas that need further improvement.