Why China Is Weak on Soft Power - NYTimes.

com

Reprints
This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. You can order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers here or use the "Reprints" tool that appears next to any article. Visit www.nytreprints.com for samples and additional information. Order a reprint of this article now.

January 17, 2012

Why China Is Weak on Soft Power

By JOSEPH S. NYE JR.

Chinas 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 are intensi ying the strategic plot o Westerni!ing and di"iding China, and ideological and cultural ields are the ocal areas o their long#term in iltration,$ he wrote, adding that the international culture 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 to produce outcomes through persuasion and attraction rather than coercion or payment ( and needed to ight bac%& )"er the past decade, Chinas economic and military might has grown impressi"ely, and this has rightened its neighbors into loo%ing or allies to balance rising Chinese hard power& *ut i a country 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 power the way .sian countries see% an .merican presence to balance China& .lready in 200/, Hu told the 1/th Congress o the Chinese Communist 0arty that China needed to in"est more in its so t power resources& .ccordingly, China is spending billions o dollars on a charm o ensi"e& 1he Chinese style emphasi!es high#pro ile gestures, such as rebuilding the Cambodian 0arliament or -o!ambi2ues +oreign . airs -inistry& 1he elaborately staged 2003 *ei4ing )lympics enhanced Chinas reputation, and the 2010 5hanghai ',po attracted more than /0 million "isitors& 1he *oao +orum or .sia on Hainan 6sland attracts nearly 2,000 .sian politicians and business leaders to what is billed as an .sian 7a"os&$ .nd Chinese aid programs to . rica and 8atin .merica are not limited by the institutional or human rights concerns that constrain Western aid& China has always had an attracti"e traditional culture, and now it has created se"eral hundred Con ucius 6nstitutes around the world to teach its language and culture& 1he 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 <oice o .merica was cutting its Chinese broadcasts, China =adio 6nternational was increasing its broadcasts in 'nglish to 2; hours a day& 6n 200>, *ei4ing announced plans to spend billions o dollars to de"elop global media giants to compete with *loomberg, 1ime Warner and <iacom& China in"ested ?3&> billion in e,ternal

Why China Is Weak on Soft Power - NYTimes.com

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 Chinese companies creating cultural products, and has restricted Chinese tele"ision shows that are imitations o Western entertainment programs& *ut or all its e orts, China has had a limited return on its in"estment& . recent **C poll shows that opinions o Chinas in luence are positi"e in much o . rica and 8atin .merica, but predominantly negati"e in the Anited 5tates and 'urope, as well as in 6ndia, Japan and 5outh Borea& . poll ta%en in .sia a ter the *ei4ing )lympics ound that Chinas 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 is not easy when they are inconsistent with domestic realities& 1he 2003 )lympics were a success, but shortly a terwards, Chinas domestic crac%down in 1ibet and @ian4iang, and on human rights acti"ists, undercut its so t power gains& 1he 5hanghai ',po was also a great success, but was ollowed by the 4ailing o the Cobel peace laureate 8iu @iaobo and the artist .i Weiwei& .nd or all the e orts to turn @inhua and China Central 1ele"ision into competitors or CCC and the **C, there is little international audience or brittle propaganda& Cow, in the a termath o the -iddle 'ast re"olutions, China is clamping down on the 6nternet and 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 cultural acti"ities ma%es it impossible or China to in luence literature and cinema on a global basis or or us culturati to raise our heads up proud&$ 1he de"elopment o so t power need not be a !ero sum game& .ll countries can gain rom inding attraction in one anothers cultures& *ut or China to succeed, it will need to unleash the talents 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.