Abstract
As China’s comprehensive national power grows, how will China exert its global influence? This chapter argues that China is most likely to continue to wield soft power tools, such as economic interests and cultural impact. It also posits that China’s military strength serves primarily as a deterrent, a prerequisite that enables the country to predominantly use its soft power tools. This chapter is structured to explore how China has historically and contemporarily employed economic interest and cultural influence as instruments of soft power. Regarding economic soft power, the chapter explores the underlying logic behind China’s approach, paying particular attention to its execution through the tributary system. It highlights the emerging obstacles tied to China’s strategy of positioning economic soft power as a primary means of attaining global influence. In terms of cultural soft power, the chapter delves into how China has traditionally defined its own identity in contrast to the non-Chinese world, and the evolution of this perspective over time. It also explores how this evolving conception of identity has shaped varying strategies to exert cultural influence, both domestically and internationally.
“A government must have not only the economic heft but also the skill to wield economic instruments effectively. China has demonstrated a unique mastery in using hard instruments of ‘soft power’.” (Allison, 2017)
—Graham Allison, Author of Destined for War
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Notes
- 1.
Jervis (1978).
- 2.
McLaughlin (2016).
- 3.
Ibid.
- 4.
Allison (2017).
- 5.
McLaughlin (2016).
- 6.
Ibid.
- 7.
Ibid.
- 8.
Ibid.
- 9.
Ibid.
- 10.
Blackwill and Harris (2016).
- 11.
Ibid.
- 12.
Fairbank (1968).
- 13.
Zhao (2004).
- 14.
Sima (2011).
- 15.
Ye (2005).
- 16.
Lu et al. (eds.) (2022).
- 17.
Ibid.
- 18.
Fairbank and Goldman (1998).
- 19.
- 20.
Ibid.
- 21.
Ren (1995)
- 22.
Ibid.
- 23.
Ibid.
- 24.
Zhang and Buzan (2012).
- 25.
Harding (1993).
- 26.
Ibid.
- 27.
Fairbank (1969).
- 28.
Liu et al. (eds.) (2017).
- 29.
Kissinger (2011).
- 30.
Fairbank (1969).
- 31.
Zhang and Buzan (2012).
- 32.
Hayton (2020).
- 33.
Lee (2017).
- 34.
Wang (2013).
- 35.
Zhang and Buzan (2012).
- 36.
Ibid.
- 37.
McLaughlin (2016).
- 38.
Ibid.
- 39.
Wang (2013).
- 40.
McLaughlin (2016).
- 41.
Ban (2003).
- 42.
Zhang and Buzan (2012).
- 43.
Jia and Han (eds.).
- 44.
Shinobu (1982).
- 45.
Wang (1979).
- 46.
Amer (1993).
- 47.
Ibid.
- 48.
McDonagh (2021).
- 49.
Hayton (2020).
- 50.
Blackwill and Harris (2016).
- 51.
Kang (2010).
- 52.
Ibid.
- 53.
Jervis (1978).
- 54.
Ibid.
- 55.
Reynolds (2022).
- 56.
Kumar (2023).
- 57.
Da silva et al. (2021).
- 58.
Frahar and Mathieson (2016).
- 59.
Brzezinski (1998).
- 60.
Ibid.
- 61.
Jervis (1978).
- 62.
Ibid.
- 63.
Ibid. p. 174.
- 64.
Guo (2021).
- 65.
Ibid.
- 66.
Zhao (2004).
- 67.
Ibid.
- 68.
Schuman (2020).
- 69.
Ibid.
- 70.
Ibid.
- 71.
Liu et al. (eds.) (2017).
- 72.
Ouyang et al. (eds.) (2015).
- 73.
Hayton (2020).
- 74.
Ibid.
- 75.
Ibid.
- 76.
Ibid.
- 77.
Ibid.
- 78.
Ibid.
- 79.
Ibid. p.134.
- 80.
The Economist (2016).
- 81.
Hayton (2020).
- 82.
The Economist (2016).
- 83.
Ibid.
- 84.
Bewick (2009).
- 85.
Ibid.
- 86.
Ibid.
- 87.
Ibid.
- 88.
Hayton (2020), p.245.
- 89.
Ibid.
- 90.
Ho et al. (2004).
- 91.
Ibid.
- 92.
Ibid.
- 93.
Lehr and Bechrakis (2020).
- 94.
Ibid.
- 95.
Ibid.
- 96.
Kissinger (2011).
- 97.
Repnikova (2017).
- 98.
Zhang and Buzan (2012).
- 99.
Ibid.
- 100.
Ibid.
- 101.
Ibid.
- 102.
Callahan (2008).
- 103.
The Economist (2017).
- 104.
Xinhua News Agency (2018).
- 105.
Ibid.
- 106.
The National Development and Reform Commission (2021).
- 107.
Cao (2022).
- 108.
Zhuang (2021).
- 109.
Wong (2003).
- 110.
Ibid.
- 111.
Ibid.
- 112.
Ibid.
- 113.
Ibid.
- 114.
Wang (1991).
- 115.
Taipei Times (2021).
- 116.
Ibid.
- 117.
Aspinwall (2021).
- 118.
Cui (2011).
- 119.
Ibid.
- 120.
Sven (2021).
- 121.
Ibid.
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Dong, J. (2023). Charting the Path of Influence: Between Force and Soft Power . In: Chinese Statecraft in a Changing World. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6453-6_8
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