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January 17, 2012

Why China Is Weak on Soft PowerBy JOSEPH S. NYE JR.

China’s president, Hu Jintao, greeted 2012 with an important essay warning that China was being battered by Western culture: “We must clearly see that international hostile orces areintensi ying the strategic plot o Westerni!ing and di"iding China, and ideological and culturalields are the ocal areas o their long#term in iltration,$ he wrote, adding that “the internationalculture o the West is strong while we are wea%&$

'ssentially, Hu was saying that China was under assault by Western so t power ( the ability toproduce outcomes through persuasion and attraction rather than coercion or payment ( andneeded to ight bac%&

)"er the past decade, China’s economic and military might has grown impressi"ely, and thishas rightened its neighbors into loo%ing or allies to balance rising Chinese hard power& *ut i acountry can also increase its so t power, its neighbors eel less need to see% balancing alliances&+or e ample, Canada and -e ico do not see% alliances with China to balance .merican powerthe way .sian countries see% an .merican presence to balance China&

.lready in 200/, Hu told the 1/th Congress o the Chinese Communist arty that China neededto in"est more in its so t power resources& .ccordingly, China is spending billions o dollars ona charm o ensi"e&

he Chinese style emphasi!es high#pro ile gestures, such as rebuilding the Cambodianarliament or -o!ambi ue’s +oreign . airs -inistry& he elaborately staged 2003 *ei4ing)lympics enhanced China’s reputation, and the 2010 5hanghai ' po attracted more than /0million "isitors& he *oao +orum or .sia on Hainan 6sland attracts nearly 2,000 .sianpoliticians and business leaders to what is billed as an “.sian 7a"os&$ .nd Chinese aidprograms to . rica and 8atin .merica are not limited by the institutional or human rightsconcerns that constrain Western aid&

China has always had an attracti"e traditional culture, and now it has created se"eral hundredCon ucius 6nstitutes around the world to teach its language and culture& he enrollment o oreign students in China has increased rom 9 ,000 a decade ago to at least 2;0,000 in 2010,and while the

8/13/2019 Why China is Weak on Soft Power - NYTimes

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publicity wor%, including a 2;#hour @inhua cable news channel designed to imitate .l Ja!eera&

*ei4ing has also raised de enses& 6t limits oreign ilms to only 20 per year, subsidi!es Chinesecompanies creating cultural products, and has restricted Chinese tele"ision shows that areimitations o Western entertainment programs&

*ut or all its e orts, China has had a limited return on its in"estment& . recent **C poll showsthat opinions o China’s in luence are positi"e in much o . rica and 8atin .merica, butpredominantly negati"e in the Anited 5tates and 'urope, as well as in 6ndia, Japan and 5outhBorea& . poll ta%en in .sia a ter the *ei4ing )lympics ound that China’s charm o ensi"e had been ine ecti"e&

What China seems not to appreciate is that using culture and narrati"e to create so t power isnot easy when they are inconsistent with domestic realities&

he 2003 )lympics were a success, but shortly a terwards, China’s domestic crac%down inibet and @ian4iang, and on human rights acti"ists, undercut its so t power gains& he 5hanghai' po was also a great success, but was ollowed by the 4ailing o the obel peace laureate 8iu@iaobo and the artist .i Weiwei& .nd or all the e orts to turn @inhua and China Centralele"ision into competitors or C and the **C, there is little international audience or

brittle propaganda&

ow, in the a termath o the -iddle 'ast re"olutions, China is clamping down on the 6nternetand 4ailing human rights lawyers, once again torpedoing its so t power campaign&

.s Han Han, a no"elist and popular blogger, argued in 7ecember, “the restriction on culturalacti"ities ma%es it impossible or China to in luence literature and cinema on a global basis oror us culturati to raise our heads up proud&$

he de"elopment o so t power need not be a !ero sum game& .ll countries can gain rominding attraction in one anothers’ cultures& *ut or China to succeed, it will need to unleash thetalents o its ci"il society& An ortunately, that does not seem about to happen soon&

Joseph S. Nye Jr. is a professor at Harvard and the author, most recently, of “The Future of Power.”

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