Confucius Institutes v2 (1)

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CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF CHINA’S SOFT POWER 13Traditional approaches to cultural diplomacy echo Nye’sdiscussion on trying to wield culture as a soft power resource. Inthis view, culture, like messages, is a static attribute produced anddisseminated by an individual country. From a communicationvantage point, culture appears to be a product. This product canbe promoted, as in the efforts of various cultural and languageinstitutes. As a product, culture can be exchanged, as in culturalexchanges, cultural visits, and themed cultural years. It can alsobe a vehicle for relationship-building, such as through two-waydialogues. Countries can be extremely creative in how they wieldculture as a soft power resource, especially in how they engagepublics through participatory activities and exhibits. They can alsocreate elaborate relational networks for promoting and transmittingculture and cultural products. Despite the innovation in relationaldynamics and relational structures, because the two are separate andnot integrated, they do not create the synergy needed to sustain theinitiative. Wielding culture as a soft power resource requires thesustained effort and outlay of other resources of the sponsor in orderto grow the initiative.Recent scholarship in cultural diplomacy is expanding the viewof culture from a product to a process. 13 Stephen Green raised theimportance of process, including the use of networks and digitalcommunication. 14 However, the mechanism for how to transitionfrom product to process is not entirely clear. Given today’stechnology, it is relatively easy to create a cultural network onpaper or in cyberspace. However, because human networks are notinanimate grids, but living organisms, it is critical to look inside thenetwork initiative at the relational structure and relational dynamics.Both are critical to the network initiative’s potential to thrive andgrow and create a soft power differential. China’s CI initiativeprovides insights into how to integrate relational structure withrelational dynamics. The next section provides a strategic overviewof the CI initiative, and is followed by a closer examination ofthe CI initiative in terms of the three dimensions of a networkcommunication approach.
14 CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF CHINA’S SOFT POWERConfucius Institute: Strategic OverviewThe Confucius Institute is headquartered in Beijing andsponsored by China’s National Office for Teaching Chinese as aForeign Language, or Hanban (an abbreviation of han yu ban gongshi). According to the CI English language website, the initiative is“aimed at promoting friendly relationships with other countries andenhancing the understanding of the Chinese language and cultureamong world [sic].” 15 It also works to support Chinese teachersworking abroad at the learning facilities and provides training forthese teachers in China in a non-degree program of Applied ChineseEducation. In addition to training teachers, and spreading Chineseculture and language, the Confucius Institutes also help promoteChinese festivals in their various international locations.The institutes and their Chinese partners are linked with the CIheadquarters in Beijing. 16 In 2006, the headquarters began hosting itsannual Confucius Institute Conference for current and prospectiveinstitutes. In 2009, Confucius Institute Online – a hub that providesdetailed information on the CI initiative – was created. The site,originally in Chinese and English, has expanded to more than 45language options. The original website (www.confuciusinstitute.net) was highly interactive, containing Chinese podcast lessons anda resource pool, as well as cultural features. A second generation site(www.chinese.cn) incorporated social media and turned the site intoan online forum for finding and connecting with others. It providedlists of Confucius Institutes around the world by region and country,and specific academic institutions on an interactive Google map.While the CI on the surface appear similar to other culturalinstitutes, in order to gain greater insight into how the CI initiativehas been able to grow we can explore the initiative using the threeinter-related dimensions of a network communication approach:network structure, network synergy, and network strategy.
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