Five-Years Achievements and Problems of ‘The Belt and Road Initiative’ Cultural Policy in China

Abstract

Over the past five years, China’s ‘The Belt and Road Initiative’ strategy has brought about diverse interpretations and controversy since the 2013 Xi Jinping brought up the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and ‘21st-Century Maritime Silk Road’ construction. There is positive public opinion and negative public opinion. Of course, the Chinese government also clearly recognizes that overcoming this negative public opinion is a key task in determining the success or failure of ‘The Belt and Road Initiative’. The Chinese government is extremely vigilant in recognizing ‘The Belt and Road Initiative’ along with Chinese expansionism or supremacy. For this reason, the Chinese government emphasizes the role of ‘People-to-people bond(民心相通)’ more than anything else. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the cultural policies and the progress of the Chinese government in relation to ‘The Belt and Road Initiative’ in the past five years, and to analyze its achievements and problems. The Chinese government’s foreign cultural policy aimed at countries along the Belt and Road is still focused on the direction of Chinese culture ‘Go global strategy(走出去)’. I think that if China continues this policy, it will be more difficult for the ‘People-to-people bond’. China’s foreign cultural policy in the 21st century was centered on two axes: cultural security and soft power. It is mainly in advanced countries, with strong regulatory policies on foreign cultural products and overseas expansion of Chinese culture. However, countries along the Belt and Road are mostly developing countries. Therefore, ‘one on one’ countries are also likely to look at China with the same perspective that China has for the advanced Western capitalist countries. From this point of view, China’s “The Belt and Road Initiative” cultural policy should be transformed dramatically in the future. If you want to borrow Chinese expression, the Chinese government should abandon its policy of ‘Go global strategy(走出去)’ Chinese culture abroad from a strategic point of view, and to focus on ‘Bring in (引進來)’ foreign culture into China. The Chinese government is not trying to force China to spread its values and to empathize with countries along the Belt and Road. Instead, it is trying to create a new era spirit in the process of actively experiencing and consuming the culture of countries along the Belt and Road.