Communicating China to the World

What is China's current approach to international communication and relationship building, and how has it changed since "Reform and Opening Up" began in the late 1970s? How do China's approaches to public diplomacy complicate existing paradigms of public diplomacy? Is China creating new models that will reshape the current landscape of public diplomacy? Starting from these questions, this volume examines the different models, issues, and debates about China's use of public diplomacy for soft power. China's increasingly assertive diplomatic presence holds major implications for public diplomacy and soft power, notions that up to now have been largely characterized by western conceptualizations and theorizations, leading to Western-centric views on the one hand and analysis focused on western practices on the other. Through critically engaging with the concepts of public diplomacy and soft power, this volume re-examines and reconsiders the evolving concept of public diplomacy and the current global balance of soft power, and contributes to the understanding of different models and issues of both public diplomacy and soft power.