By Dingding Chen
This time it is not the Confucius Institute; it is China’s new type of think tanks.
It is widely believed that although China’s hard power has increased tremendously in the last three decades, China’s soft power is still very limited. To some degree this is true. Very few big ideas come from Chinese thinkers; even the term ‘soft power’ itself is an American invention. Chinese leaders are well aware of this situation, and this is partly why the Chinese government in recent years has tried to promote China’s soft power through institutions like the Confucius Institutes and so on. The results, so far, have been mixed, as foreigners in general are still skeptical about China’s own values and ideas. Part of the problem is that foreigners tend to view governmental efforts as pure propaganda.
Realizing this situation, the Chinese government has, since the third plenum of the 18th Party’s Congress in 2013, called for a new approach to soft power, one that emphasizes the unique role of independent think tanks in generating new ideas and enhancing China’s soft power. Thus, the Dean of Institute for National Condition Studies at Tsinghua University, Professor Hu Angang, argued that China’s think tanks could help showcase Chinese thought, Chinese positions, and Chinese voices at the international stage. Ultimately, China’s think tanks can make big contributions to the realization of the ‘Chinese Dream.’ It is safe to say that now it is springtime for China’s think tanks to influence government policies and enhance China’s soft power.
Read the full story at The Diplomat