The Сoncept of International Discourse Power in China’s Foreign Policy Ideology

Abstract

As China’s material power strengthens and US-China strategic competition deepens, the concept of international discourse power is becoming increasingly important in China’s foreign policy ideology. Beijing assumes that China’s increased material power has not been translated into international discourse power; in the context of developing US-Chinese rivalry, China is at a disadvantage in terms of its international discourse power, and the persistence of Western “discourse hegemony” in the world is holding back further development of China and the implementation of its national interests. According to many Chinese scholars, the essence of the struggle for international discourse power is the desire to dominate the world order, including its creation, maintenance and revision. Possession of discourse power allows a country to influence the world political and economic order and values, determine the international agenda and thereby acquire greater economic and geopolitical power, as well as occupy leading role in global governance. Increased influence on the world arena is seen in Beijing as closely linked to the strengthening of international discourse power. The article reconstructs the genesis and development of the concept of international discourse power in the Chinese official and academic fields, identifies independence in the Chinese theoretical understanding of this concept and the high applied significance of its research as aimed at finding ways to shape China’s discourse power. The article focuses on the main provisions, logic and argumentation of Chinese scholars in the process of their conceptualization of the phenomenon of international discourse power.