Abstract
ABSTRACTChina’s public diplomacy in ASEAN countries started as part of strategic partnership both at the regional and bilateral levels since the mid-2000s. Focusing on Confucius Institute (CI) as one of the earliest means of China’s public diplomacy, this article aims to make a comparative review of establishing processes of CIs and examines features of the CI program, functions of the CI networking, and perceptions of the youth of host universities and local societies. Based on the empirical surveys, this article argues that China’s public diplomacy through CIs in the ASEAN countries is an institutional building process to develop young human resources with Mandarin proficiency, to promote business relations, and to disseminate China’s official ideas through CIs’ public forums to the extent that the CIs’ network has been utilized to promote the conceptual synergy of “One Belt One Road” “Maritime Silk Road in the 21st Century” with ASEAN Connectivity. In conclusion, this article argues that due to a wide gap particularly in terms of social pluralism and open access to multiple sources of information in the region, the rapid growth of China’s public diplomacy through CIs will have a double-edged effect, conducive to promoting relations with China and a centrifugal force to the ASEAN Centrality in the decade to come.
Highlights
Since the mid-2000s China has started to promote public diplomacy by establishing Confucius Institutes (CIs), holding cultural exhibitions, globalizing the media, and granting scholarships for higher education in China
When the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of ASEAN–China Centre (ACC) was revised in August 2017, Foreign Minister Wang proposed seven principles, for instance to formulate a 2030 Vision for China–ASEAN Strategic Partnership as a blueprint to guide future relations, to synergize the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Master Plan on ASEAN Connectivity (MPAC), and to further expand the scope and dimension for bilateral cooperation
Within the past several years only, a new phenomenon has already emerged that Indonesians who returned from universities in China have started teaching Mandarin and Chinese Culture to train human resources who have proficiency in Mandarin Chinese
Summary
Since the mid-2000s China has started to promote public diplomacy by establishing Confucius Institutes (CIs), holding cultural exhibitions, globalizing the media, and granting scholarships for higher education in China. As Thung correctly says, we must “carefully avoid to mix a growing popularity of China and studying Chinese with achievement of CI.”22 Based on such brief review of related literature, this paper intends to show a more holistic framework of the current dynamism of China’s public diplomacy in the ASEAN countries and aims to discuss how CIs as the state investment of China are established, managed, and received in ASEAN societies, by younger generations, primarily referring to the cases in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, and the Philippines. It aims to discuss the prospect and challenges of the ASEAN countries with regard to China’s public diplomacy in the coming decade
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