ABSTRACTS

Viewpoints

The Cross-integration and Development Direction of Area and Country Studies and the Public Diplomacy Major Yang Jiemian •1•

Area and country studies has been officially included into the “Graduate Education Discipline Catalog (2022)”, becoming a new first-level discipline under the interdisciplinary category, and many domestic universities in China have taken advantage of the trend. The development of internal and external situation requires the cross-integration of area and country studies and the public diplomacy major, which can better serve the national strategy and academic development. China’s area and country studies and the public diplomacy major started late, and have assumed heavy application tasks. The construction of the new discipline especially needs to increase practical participation and improve practice consciousness. In the context of globalization and information-driven development, disciplinary construction must not be groovy or self-contained. So, both the discipline of area and country studies and the public diplomacy major should constantly refine themselves and sublimate in self-development, cross-development and integrated development in order to promote the integrated development of practice, mechanism and theory.

Special Article

Prospects for China-US Climate Cooperation — An Exclusive Interview with Neil Bush Neil Bush & Chunni Dorothy Song •9•

In today’s increasingly urgent global warming and other issues, cooperation between major countries on climate change and other related issues has got particularly important, and has gradually become the focus of governments, think tanks and the academic community. Over the years, Mr. Neil Bush, a well-known American social activist, has actively promoted the public attention to relevant fields, and at the same time facilitated the sound cooperation between several Chinese and American enterprises in the fields of climate and energy. However, the unpredictable world situation, geopolitical instability and frequent wars in many parts of the world are creating multiple obstacles to further cooperation between China and the United States. When interviewed by a correspondent from this journal, Neil Bush highly praised China’s achievements in energy saving and emission reduction as well as in promoting green energy, and expressed his concern over continued US increase of tariffs and restriction on business cooperation. In this interview, Mr. Bush delved into the possibility of further promoting China-US climate cooperation, as well as his unique insight on the direction of US policy. His reflections on and outlook for climate cooperation, with his permission, are excerpted in detail in this journal.

Special Topic: The United States and the Global South

An Analysis of the Strategy of the United States to Build an Initiative System for Global Infrastructure Construction Liu Yingjie •18•

Since the Biden administration came to power, the United States has launched a number of infrastructure construction initiatives, trying to build a global infrastructure construction initiative system led by the US and opening to the countries of the Global South. In this way, the US intends to interact with its allies and bring in the countries of the Global South to establish a p “high-standard” infrastructure construction framework in a hope to reverse the decline of its influence in the Global South in recent years, so as to consolidate its global dominance. However, most of the infrastructure construction initiatives launched by the US remain in the planning stage, with few tangible projects coming to fruition. This shows that significant constraints still exist in US efforts to build a global infrastructure construction initiative system, making it difficult to meet the expectations of the US and its allies, and letting alone meeting the development demands of the countries in the Global South. It is in sharp contrast to the achievements of the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road and the model of overall coordination of development and security. Given this, China needs to maintain strategic confidence, continue to advance the high-quality development of the Belt and Road, and further leverage it as an international public good.

Cognition, Shaping, and Action of American Think Tanks towards the Global South Han Zhuoxi •28•

According to the Cambridge Dictionary Online, the “Global South” refers to a group of developing countries in African, Latin America and Asia. This concept was put forward by American scholars and has a strong ideological color. In recent years, American think tanks have taken a more condescending attitude towards the countries of the “Global South”. In an attempt to curb the trend of the “Global South’s” growing influence in the international community, they have adopted various means, such as demonstrating the “irrationality” of the concept of the “Global South”, dismantling its constituent groups and portraying India as the leading country of the “ Global South” among others, and tried to strengthen American control over the countries of the “Global South”, while helping to spread the concept of “ Global East” to continue to divide the grouping of developing countries.

Characteristics and Impacts of U. S. Aid to Higher Education in Vietnam — As seen in the Case of Fulbright University in Vietnam Sun Yitong & Song Qingrun •40•

Higher education aid is one of the important ways for the United States to carry out public diplomacy. The establishment of Fulbright University in Vietnam, supported by the United States, embodies such characteristics of the U. S. foreign aid on higher education to Vietnam as taking the official cooperation between the two countries as the lead, the shaping of diversified values as the core, and the training of a new generation of Vietnamese leaders as the goal. The U. S. foreign aid on higher education can deepen bilateral education cooperation, gradually expand the influence of American-style education in Vietnam, and significantly enhance the favorable impression of Vietnamese youth on the United States. The U. S. has placed public diplomacy aimed at Vietnamese youth in an important position, which has posed a certain challenge to China’s public diplomacy in neighboring countries.

The Work of the Peace Corps in the Pacific Island Countries and its Inspiration to China Jiang Xiaoqian •50•

The US Peace Corps is the oldest and largest government volunteer service organization in the world and plays a key role in the US foreign aid system. In 1966, the United States sent the Peace Corps to Micronesia, its strategic trust territory then, which was the first recipient of American aid in the Pacific. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Peace Corps of the United States implemented a series of aid projects tailored to the local conditions in the Pacific island countries, which strongly promoted the modernization process of relevant countries. Since then, due to the shift of the strategic focus of the United States, the Peace Corps’ aid programs have gradually withdrawn from the Pacific island countries, but the Peace Corps have not been completely withdrawn. After the Biden administration took office, it re-examined the position of the Pacific island countries in the national strategy of the United States and increased investment in them, with the Peace Corps returning to Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and other countries. The study of the policy of the United States towards the Pacific island countries and the influence of the Peace Corps on local development can provide inspiration and reference for China’s assistance to the Pacific island countries.

Hot Issues

Three Diplomatic Effects of the Paris Olympic Games Liu Mingyu & Zhou Xinyu •60•

The Olympic Games is the main platform of sports public diplomacy, which embodies the functions of sports public diplomacy. Taking the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as an example, this article analyzes the impact of the “window effect”, the “star effect” and the “virtual effect” of the Olympic Games on pubic diplomacy and international politics. The opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is an important stage for national cultural diplomacy, showcasing the cultural characteristics of the host country, promoting cultural exchanges and mutual learning, and reflecting the diversity of civilizations and cultural differences. As “super communicators”, the personal charisma and off-field performance of sports stars transcend the sports competition itself, which can break the stereotype formed by the international cognitive war, and shape and enhance the image of a country. The Olympic Games is seen as a “peaceful war”, the gold medal tally is therefore considered to reflect the comprehensive strength of the participating countries, while technical issues such as the fairness of the rules touch political nerves and trigger public opinion contests. In the face of cultural differences and conflicts, ideological interference, stereotypes and politicized competition, the Olympic spirit makes the Olympic Games a political public space that ultimately plays the role of a bridge to promote world peace and development.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue among the United States, Japan, India and Australia: A Study from the Perspective of Strategic Culture Xue Li •70•

The world has entered a long era of civilization-based competition and cooperation, in which different civilizations both compete and cooperate with each other. As China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region is rapidly increasing, some countries in the region that compete with China have launched their respective “Indo-Pacific Strategy” in order to “ counterbalance” China’s influence, as typically seen in the revival of the “quadrilateral security dialogue” mechanism among the US, Japan, India and Australia. These four countries have different strategic cultures and varied identity cognition. The reasons for the US to pursue its “ Indo-Pacific Strategy ” involve the Christian monotheistic values that emphasize confrontation, the deep-rooted strategic concept of balance of power, and the strategic principle of acting as an offshore balancer. Although Australia also emphasizes antagonism in strategy, seeks balance of power, and acts as an offshore balancer, it is rather flexible because of its overall strength and geographical location. Japan’s strategic culture does not emphasize antagonism like Christianity, but attaches great importance to absorption and transformation of things foreign, showing Japanese characteristics in seeking both balance of power and offshore balancing. Hinduism has profoundly shaped India’s strategic culture: emphasizing strategic autonomy, promoting the Indian model of balance of power, building a third pole and an Indian-style offshore balance system with India playing a leading role. The conclusion of this article is that it is difficult for the Quad mechanism to develop into an “Indo-Pacific version of NATO”, and even harder for an “Indo-Pacific alliance” to come into being.

Interview

Tell China’s Stories in a Way the West Is Willing to Listen and Understand — Interview with Zhou Bo, Senior Fellow at Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy Zhou Bo & Liu Yitong •83•

In recent years, as China’s international status and global influence have risen, Western media’s interest in the perspectives of Chinese experts and scholars has grown significantly. How to skillfully shift roles in international communication from passive to active and effectively tell China’s stories has become an important topic. This article features an exclusive interview with Zhou Bo, Senior Fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy of Tsinghua University and former Director of the Centre for Security Cooperation in the Office for International Military Cooperation at the Ministry of National Defense. This interview explores his extensive experience and unique insights in international communication, hoping that his successful practices can inspire us to better tell China’s stories and convey China’s voice on the international stage.

Theories

The Implications of Western Strategic Communication for China and Recommendations for Response Zhang Zefei & Jin ge •91•

The essence of strategic communication is a clearly targeted, systematic global strategy, which became a high-frequency concept in international political and security discourse after the “9/11” event. In the 21st century, the Western world’s emphasis on strategic communication is driven by multiple factors, including the global spread of extremist ideologies, the limitations of traditional military means in addressing security issues, challenges faced by some countries in domestic and foreign affairs, the “decentralized” media environment, and the unbalanced impact on economy and society. Strategic communication has become an important means for some Western countries to engage in international competition, and it is a phenomenon that China must face in safeguarding its own development interests internationally. China should plan to enhance its strategic communication capabilities, strengthen the top-level design of international communication, increase the global influence of its media, bolster the reserve of international communication talents, balance internal and external factors, and enhance social resilience against external information interference.

Cases A Remembrance of the Grand “Cultural Year” to Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and France Sun Haichao •99•

In 2003—2004, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France, the two countries held cultural year activities in each other’s countries. As one of the diplomatic chiefs in the embassy, this author participated in the organization of all events, and attended or presided over several events. This article recalls the great attention given by the French side to the events at the time, and the French people’s strong interest in Chinese culture, as well as the Chinese people’s warm welcome to French culture, which also made the French side satisfied. The author is happy to say that the two countries held the “cultural year” in each other’s countries, which set off “China fever” and “France fever” in the country of the other, and quickly narrowed the distance between the two peoples. The two-year China-France “cultural year”, wide in audience and deep in influence, is not only an unprecedented feat in the history of China’s foreign exchanges, but also the longest and most effective bilateral public diplomacy activity between China and a friendly foreign country. 　

An Analysis of China-ASEAN Naval Public Diplomacy from the Perspective of “Global Community with a Shared Future” Wan Zhaoxin & Yu Qun •109•

Naval public diplomacy is a diplomatic approach with the navy as the main force of diplomacy, and the foreign public and military as the main audience, having the characteristics of both military diplomacy and public diplomacy. As part of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era, China- ASEAN naval public diplomacy is guided by the concept of building a “China- ASEAN community with a shared future”. It plays major strategic functions such as enhancing strategic mutual trust, shaping the military and national image, and expanding the channels of interaction, while focusing on such important areas as high-level visits, port visits, and joint exercises and training, thus making unique contributions to the building of the China-ASEAN community with a shared future. In the future, China should further strengthen the synergy of diplomatic concepts with ASEAN countries, optimize bilateral cooperation mechanisms, and speed up the building of an ocean-going navy, to better sever its national strategies.

Book Review

Outlining the Panorama of Economic Diplomacy in the 21st Century—A Review of The New Economic Diplomacy: Decision- Making and Negotiation in International Economic Relations (4th Edition) Zou Yue •118•

The New Economic Diplomacy: Decision-Making and Negotiation in International Economic Relations (4th Edition) (Shanghai People’s Publishing House, August 2023), a book edited by Nicholas Bayne and Stephen Woolcock and translated by Yu Yiqi, provides a comprehensive analysis of economic diplomacy with solid theoretical explanations and rich case studies. It begins by defining the scope and content of economic diplomacy, and then identifies the theoretical tools available to explain economic diplomacy activities. Finally, from different actors, countries and themes, the basic characteristics and facts of economic diplomacy are sorted out to provide a relatively complete framework for analyzing and assessing economic diplomacy activities. This book is an enduring representative work in the field of economic diplomacy and is worth reading for researchers and practitioners interested in economic diplomacy.