Confucius Institutes v2 (1)

CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF CHINA’S SOFT POWER 19Internal relationship-building is a prominent feature in China’sCI initiative and is reflected in the strategic pairing of “teachingactivities” (or task cohesion) with “cultural activities” (or socialcohesion) mandated for all institutes. 25 It is the combination of thesetwo activities that may work together to foster team-building. AnInstitute’s teaching activities provide the initial bonding processthrough task cohesion: students face an explicit and shared challengeof trying to learn a new and difficult language. Cultural activitiesallow individuals to engage with others regardless of their languageproficiency, and are in essence opportunities for building a senseof belonging and identification among the students. Participating indragon boat racing, Chinese New Year festivities, or online competitivechallenges provide emotional rewards for pursuing language study(maintaining bonds, measuring achievements) and help build teamspirit as well as a sense of community. The importance of emotions,especially in relationship-building, cannot be overlooked. Notsurprisingly, Cynthia Schneider included the element of fun in herlist of best practices in cultural diplomacy. 26External Relationship-BuildingWhile internal relationship-building helps transform individualnetwork members into a team, external relationship-building helpsboosts the network’s reach, resources, impact, and legitimacy. Theprocess of external relationship-building can occur through “networkbridge.” A network bridge serves as a conduit for informationand resources and can facilitate external relationship-building onbehalf of the network. External relationship-building can also bethrough specifically designed events that facilitate interaction acrossboundaries. 27Hanban actively encourages and facilitates external relationshipbuilding.Each institute is encouraged to build relations with theirlocal community through sponsored cultural activities. Globally,Hanban helps CIs link with each other through the CI online portal.Initially, it appeared that Hanban established the CI Online to serveas a resource hub, a static website for other Institutes to find and