Soft Power, Chinese-style, is a sexy term. Joshua Kurlantzick, in particular, has argued in his book Charm Offensive: How China's Soft Power Is Transforming The World that China is gaining diplomatic ground at the United States’ expense, while America is preoccupied with Iraq and other issues. The results of the latest APEC summit could add credibility to this theory.
Nevertheless, this situation is a far cry from China winning the hearts and souls of the world.
I agree fully with what Boris Johnson, England's Conservative Party MP and a contender for the mayor's office in London, wrote after his trip to China in April 2006. To quote him:
"It is true that the new China is a wonderful place, and certainly a lot better than the old communist China, and with the growing international renown of their economic performance the Chinese are gaining in confidence and spiritual hope. It is also true that Chinese competition is a huge challenge for us in Western Europe, and certainly a useful hobgoblin for those of us who think that Gordon Brown's Labour party is eroding our competitive edge. But with Chinese per capita GDP still only $1,000 per year, and with all the corruption and inefficiency still generated by a one-party state, I am not yet convinced that we need to force all our children to learn Mandarin. If China is really to rule the world, she will need two things that America now has in superabundance: hard power and soft power. As a military power, China is still relatively insignificant (her defence spending is smaller than that of the UK); and as for soft power -- cultural projection abroad -- what can China boast, apart from the occasional arrival in London of the state ballet or the Beijing People's Circus? It is a tragic fact that every year thousands of Chinese undergo surgery to make their features more Western.
"To see how remote is the day of Chinese cultural dominance, ask yourselves how many Westerners would have surgery to make themselves look more Chinese. Soft power -- cultural influence -- is ultimately impossible without an appealing international brand, and for the foreseeable future China's international brand will be vitiated by her domestic political arrangements. China will never rule the world as long as the Forbidden City is adorned with the face of the biggest mass murderer in history. In the words of John Lennon, 'If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao/ You ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow.’ "
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