Configuring the foreign correspondent: New questions about China’s public diplomacy

Abstract

The perennial narrative of foreign correspondents’ misadventures in China alerts us to a blind spot in current examinations of China’s public diplomacy efforts. Much work has been done to indicate the level of efforts on the part of the state actors in their engagement of public diplomacy exercises. However, how foreign media shapes the success or failure of public diplomacy is not at all clear. Yet knowing the answer to this question is crucial if we are to understand the depth and breadth of the challenges facing China’s public diplomacy goals. Concerned with this question, this article, combining institutional and historical analyses, centres upon the figure of the foreign correspondent in China, and raises the empirical and conceptual question of the role of the foreign correspondent in China’s public diplomacy agenda. The article’s main objective is to chart a new direction in the examination of China’s soft power, public diplomacy and communication strategies.