Soft power matters a lot, no one can deny it.
The geopolitical realities have changed dramatically and China cannot afford to live in a cocoon. Chinese companies are starting to capture global markets and China’s Belt and Road Initiative encompasses projects in 130 countries. All these grand plans are dependent on China’s soft power. When people like your country, they eagerly buy your products, visit your country and spend money, learn your language and culture, defend your country, and treat your fellow citizens nice when the latter travel or live abroad. Politicians around the world will also line up to meet with your leader and make deals.
Basically, life is a lot easier when you’re popular and loved.
Consider how many people of Chinese heritage in Hong Kong are brainwashed to hate China. Obviously, the Chinese leadership didn’t bother to look at what the heck Hong Kong’s youth were learning in schools and the media. Similarly, if China had good PR skills, a majority of people in Taiwan would want to unite with China.
This is the beauty of soft power.
The smart thing for China would be to
modify its “Made in China 2025” strategy to include the urgent development of soft power and positive image.
Chinese state media like CGTN, Xinhua News, China Daily and Global Times have
gotten better in the last two years. They are hiring talented TV journalists, making lots of short and informative videos, being active on Twitter etc. Female TV anchor Liu Xin brings intellect, fact-based journalism, and social media savviness; and JingJing Li‘s bubbly personality and smartness appeal to younger audience.
However, China needs hundred more such influencers.
Chinese media are also starting to leverage new foreign voices such as Daniel Dumbrill, Jerry-the-cyclist, and Cyrus Janssen. This is extremely important, since positive opinions from non-Chinese are more impactful (just like in personal relations if you want to impress a girl, the best way is to have someone else tell her how awesome you are). Another excellent example is Kishore Mahbubani an author and diplomat from Singapore who has done more for China’s image than anyone else over the years.
China should cultivate the goodwill of hundreds, if not thousands, of such people.
Chinese foreign ministry officials like Hua Chunying and ambassadors have started fighting back on Twitter in the last few months. We can see that they are being effective, since western journalists are whining about China’s new “wolf warrior diplomacy.”
In the next phase, China must develop journalists, analysts, authors, artists, photographers and moviemakers who focus on other countries and cultures as well as neutral topics that would have global appeal like BBC’s documentaries, for example.
There are 400+ billionaires and 5 million millionaires in China.
They could establish a massive private fund to start journalism & film schools, establish think tanks, hire journalists, and pay bloggers and social media influencers around the world. If that sounds crazy, guess what, that’s exactly what the west does.
Chinese government and corporations should be willing to spend significant amount of efforts, money and time on the soft power campaign. Chinese netizens should also be far more active on social media. Perhaps due to political history and cultural factors, there may be resistance to embrace, learn, and invest in this extroverted art of information war. But there’s no choice it’s time for China to evolve and adapt.
It looks like Xi Jinping is starting to understand the urgency of the situation but I don't really see any change :
The episode of Peng Shuai shows that they are still incompetent in the propaganda war and in PR
