Understanding China's soft power pursuit: Confucius Institutes and new public diplomacy. A case study of Scottish Confucius Institutes

Abstract

By the end 2016 China had opened over 500 Confucius Institutes and over 1000 Confucius Classrooms in 140 countries. Beginning only in 2004, the pace and spread of this initiative has been remarkable; to the extent that China’s numbers now rival the largest players in the field, namely the British Council and the Alliance Française. Like their international counterparts, Confucius Institutes disseminate language and culture as a way of communicating with foreign audiences. However, their organizational and operational structures are unique; Confucius Institutes embed themselves in partnership agreements, usually with educational institutions in host countries. Over the past ten years a substantial body of literature has emerged analysing these institutes’ activities, audiences, goals, and challenges. Yet studies have largely utilised diplomacy frameworks rooted in twentieth century politics, which fail to address the intricacies of these distinctive partnership agreements and their potential impacts. Through empirical case study analysis, this dissertation investigates the partnership structures of Confucius Institutes in Scotland, in order to provide a more nuanced understanding of how this 21st century form of Chinese public diplomacy works. In utilising the currently evolving framework of new public diplomacy for analysis, findings indicate that the soft power potential of these institutes may be underestimated at present. Joint partnership structures are inciting a networked, dialogic, and collaborative form of diplomacy. Thus it is argued that a more contemporary and relationally orientated public diplomacy framework is needed to better understand and study these institutes. Confucius Institutes’ soft power derives as much from the communicative processes of their diplomacy, as the actual products they are attempting to deliver.