Public diplomacy: New luminance color of Chinese diplomacy

A Public Diplomacy Research Center was announced to set up at the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) on Aug. 26, and this is China's first institution to specialize in public diplomacy research. And Zhao Qizheng, director of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, holds the office of honorary director of the Public Research Center under BFSU.

Since the entry of the 21st century, public diplomacy in China has arrested a growing widespread attention with each passing day. The Chinese government has attached increasing importance to its role. So, public diplomacy and government diplomacy supplement each other, and they are pairing off wing to wing in China's diplomacy.

Since the two annual meetings - the annual session of China's National People Congress (NPC) and the annual meeting of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) - were in session, Zhao Qizheng, 70, was conferred with a new title, namely, the editor-in-chief of a greenish-covered Public Diplomacy Journal (the opening issue), which was subsequently renamed the "Public diplomacy Quarterly". Zhao wrote in the inaugural statement: "The aim and mission of this journal is to facilitate the development of China's public diplomacy."

In another development, the Information Department of China's Foreign Ministry upgraded its "Public Diplomacy Division"to the "Public Diplomacy Office" in late 2009. This minor change of several characters has indicated an orientation of development for Chinese public diplomacy.

The methods of adding "public"before the"diplomacy"traced back to the United States in 1965. Public diplomacy has, however, gradually become a global "hot"phrase over recent years, and particularly after the September 11 attacks in the U.S. in 2001.

To Zhao Qizheng, who attached importance to public diplomacy and put it into practice for a long time, public diplomacy comprises varied dialogue modes apart from government diplomacy, including various kinds of direct exchanges, which are either bilateral and multilateral governmental and non-governmental or people-to-people. The principal part of behavior spans three aspects, namely, the government, the social elite and general public with the government taking the leading position, and the social elite serving the backbone and ordinary public as the foundation.

At the end of 2009, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Chaoxu noted that public diplomacy, as a new diplomacy form, has become a vital, important component part of China's multifaceted diplomacy. During the two annual sessions held early this year, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said that public diplomacy has become an important area of endeavor in China's diplomacy. "We are of the view that public diplomacy has emerged as our times requires and has a big role to play,"he acknowledged.

In recent years, China has designated or established a fixed date for the Foreign Ministry to open to the public, held press conferences repeatedly for Chinese and foreign reporters, and paid more attention to public diplomacy.

In 2010, China's "summit diplomacy"and "World Expo diplomacy"are particularly conspicuous. The former, like the Summit of the Shanghai Corporation Organization (SCO), the Group of 20 Summit and so on belong to the government diplomacy, and the latter, such as the Shanghai World Expo, provides an excellent opportunity for public diplomacy, to"help the world understand China in a full and all-round way, and let China present itself before the world at the greatest degree and most proximately and truthfully. Hence, public diplomacy undertakes the task of showing China to the world and helping general public overseas to understand a real China.

Public diplomacy has long existed in China as a diplomatic form and, along with the growth of the national strength, the form of public diplomacy has turned increasingly diverse and become further improved. To date, there are already more than 280 Confucius Academies abroad. Many kinds of theatrical performances as well as the Year for the Han nationality (Chinese) language, and the Year of China have been launched in a number of countries and regions. Moreover, a film to promote China's national image has begun shooting in Beijing lately.

On the July 1 edition of the "Public Diplomacy Quarterly", Duan Yuezhong, the editor-in-chief of Japan Overseas Chinese News and director of the Japan-China Exchange Association, gave an account of how they had launched the Chinese Language Corner in Japan in 2007, and said that the Chinese Language Corner has played an ace showcase and a well-known brand for public diplomacy.

In addition to some 100 routine press conferences held in China every year, the Foreign Ministry has organized more interviews and reportage activities for reporters from overseas. On the eve of the 83rd founding anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited close to 200 reporters, both Chinese and foreign, for the field coverage of an engineering regiment under the PLA Beijing Military Command.

At present, people in China have made millions of trips overseas every year, and more than 20 million people from overseas came to China annually on tourist or business trips, so the international contract between the Chinese and foreigners have been unmatched or unprecedented.

By People's Daily Online and contributed by PD reporters Chen Zhenkai, Song Tuo and Cao Lei