1st Edition
China's Non-State Soft Power Actors Tai Chi, Traditional Culture, and the Practice of Public Diplomacy
This book enriches the evolving concept of soft power, and China’s approach to soft power, by considering how aspects of Chinese culture, notably the traditional martial art and health promoting exercise Tai Chi Quan, are being successfully promoted around the world by non-state actors, and how this fits alongside China’s state-sponsored soft power promotion. The book contrasts growing soft power promotion by China with the corresponding decline in such activities by Western states, outlines the growth of Tai Chi Quan societies worldwide and explores in detail why Tai Chi Quan appeals so strongly outside China. It shows how Tai Chi Quan introduces many people around the world to Chinese culture and builds links between people inside China and elsewhere in the world. It concludes that Tai Chi Quan achieves what soft power aims to achieve: a good image and long-term friendship.
List of figures
Acknowledgements
Authors
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2 Situating China’s Efforts in the Global Landscape of Soft Power
Chapter 3 From Awareness to Confidence: The Revival of Traditional Culture
Chapter 4 Tai Chi Quan: From a Wellness and Self-Defence Exercise to a Diplomacy Vehicle
Chapter 5 Tai Chi Quan Masters as Actors of Tai Chi Diplomacy
Chapter 6 Conceptualisation: The Network Model of Objectives and the Collaboration Model
Chapter 7 Conclusion: China’s Public Diplomacy – An Alternate Perspective
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Xiaoling Zhang is a Professor in the Department of Media and Communication, University of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China
Tony Hong is a Lecturer at the School of English Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, China
'Approaching the relationship between state-actors and non-state actors through the prism of Tai Chi Quan is at once logical and innovative. And because of this, the book is bound to considerably nuance, complicate and refresh our understanding of China's soft power project.' - Dr Wanning Sun, Professor of Media and Communication Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, the University of Technology Sydney, Australia
'This study successfully demonstrates the importance of understanding China’s public diplomacy practices through multi-spaces on the public diplomacy spectrum. The innovative and illuminating collaborative model between state and non-state actors, rooted in a deep understanding of traditional Chinese culture, will enable scholars, policy makers and the general public to form a more comprehensive, nuanced and up-to-date understanding of public diplomacy and soft power in general, and China in particular.' - Dr Zheng Yongnian, Presidential Chair Professor, Founding Director of The Institute for International Affairs, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China
'Research into the People’s Republic of China tends to exaggerate the omnipotence of political leadership. As Zhang and Hong demonstrate this is particularly misleading with respect to the functioning of second track or public diplomacy. Through a close ethnography of Tai Chi Quan’s globalisation the authors most successfully demonstrate the independence of initiative outside the state’s immediate direction if towards the collaborative goals delivered by emphasis on China’s intangible cultural heritage.' - Professor David S G Goodman, China Studies Centre, University of Sydney, Australia
