China's Soft Power

The possibility of China wielding its soft power has emerged as a discernible trend over the last few years.

As Phillip C. Saunders pointed out, China has carved out a new identity as a successful "authoritarian development state." Some believe the approach of reforming the economy while limiting political freedom represents a new model with considerable appeal to authoritarian leaders in developing countries. China's manned space flights are also cited as evidence of scientific and technological success that creates soft power.

But since China's development model draws heavily on orthodox development economics and benefits from special factors such as a large domestic market and labor supply that cannot be replicated by most other countries, many believe that this will limit China's attractiveness as a model for others. Other put-offs include China's domestic problems, social inequality, environmental degradation, and periodic political clampdowns. A slowdown in growth or a major political incident would also highlight these issues and will "significantly reduce China's ability to employ soft power as a diplomatic tool."

On the part of the Chinese government, it had been devoting significant resources to promoting Chinese language and culture as a mean of promoting its soft power. Foreign student enrollment in Chinese universities had increased from 85,000 in 2002 to 110,000 in 2004. About 75 per cent of foreign students are from Asian countries, with South Korea (43,600) and Japan (19,000) sending the most students in 2004 (China's Global Activism: Strategy, Drivers and Tools, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University Press, Washington DC, October 2006).

"Appeals to cultural and linguistic affinities are especially important in dealing with countries with considerable ethnic Chinese minorities. Malaysia and Indonesia, which previously viewed their ethnic Chinese populations with suspicion, now regard them as an asset and comparative advantage in building economic relations with China."

Interestingly, the first American Confucius Institute was established at the University of Maryland in 2004 (pictured). And as Saunders noted, "Confucius institutes may further marginalize Taiwan by promoting the use of simplified Chinese used in the mainland rather than the traditional characters used in Taiwan."