The Two Phases and Constructed Objectives of Public Diplomacy in the People’s Republic of China – A Historical Review
The Two Phases and Constructed Objectives of Public Diplomacy in the People’s Republic of China – A Historical Review

Summary/Abstract: In the study of general public diplomacy, China can be regarded as a special examplewith regard to all case studies. E. Gilboa defines a ‘framework of analysis’ in whichpublic diplomacy is broken down into three parts: a short initial period, a mediumperiod, and a long period. The article will focus on the latter period of the frameworkof analysis, represented by the two periods since the founding of the People’sRepublic of China. For this academic inquiry, M. Leonard’s instruments for publicdiplomacy, from domains such as those of NGOs and political parties, were analysed.In addition to these tools, external propaganda was also researched. The period from1949 to 1978 was the first phase of the public diplomacy of the PRC. At the beginningof the founding of New China, the official diplomatic space was relatively narrowbecause there were few countries that had established diplomatic relations withChina. Public diplomacy could have played a larger role. The article analysesmostly the diplomatic environment and the modes of practice for the main actorswithin Chinese public diplomacy. It also takes China’s diplomatic relations withJapan as a case study of success. It examines all public diplomacy practices from1979 until the present time. China faces the task of interpreting itself through publicdiplomacy and shaping its image for the rest of the world. This article also paysclose attention to China’s public initiatives, offered to the outside world throughthe One Belt One Road initiative. The author analyses the construction processof the objectives of public diplomacy and reveals its intrinsic direction, fromidealism to realism, and eventually back to idealism. The article also examinesthe relationship between public diplomacy and China’s traditional official diplomacy.

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