Culture Is The Window Through Which The World Will Understand China.” This premise is the basis of Xin Liu’s insightful and timely book, China’s Cultural Diplomacy: A Great Leap Outward?, in which she probes the multi-billion-dollar soft power project that originates from Beijing, conceptualised over the last twenty years. The title of the book consciously references Mao Zedong’s disastrous “Great Leap Forward” and serves to underline Liu’s major question: Will China’s state-sponsored cultural engagement reshape global understanding, or will the nature of their engagement defeat the purpose?
Liu has an explicit thesis: China’s cultural diplomacy suffers from structural issues, over-centralisation, and a fundamental misapprehension of what cultural attraction is, notwithstanding serious investments. Her analysis focuses on three pillars of Beijing’s “charm offensive.”
First, the Confucius Institutes (CIs) – the most visible and controversial facet of China’s cultural diplomacy – are presented as both a strategic asset and a liability. Liu acknowledges their role in language and cultural education but underscores their operational inefficiencies, the persistent suspicions over academic freedom, and the disconnect between China’s aspirations and the everyday realities of host universities (pp. 47-50).
Second, Liu points out the global rise of state media such as CGTN and Xinhua News Agency. She contends that linguistic diversity and the proliferation of content do not automatically result in credibility, especially when editorial control is still so often bound to the party line. This results in expensive, top-down campaigns that do not reach audiences who are accustomed to independent media (pp. 78-82).
Third, Liu reproaches the Communist Party of China’s slogan of “telling China’s story well,” which guides narratives in film, publishing, and cultural displays. In this context, Liu critiques the underlying contradiction: the state wants to promote an image of a cosmopolitan and sophisticated civilisation; however, it also does not want to loosen ideological controls enough to allow authentic narratives to emerge that are entertaining to foreign audiences (pp. 103-106). This is reminiscent of the historical “Great Leap” mentality, a focus on quantity over quality, and spectacle over substance.
Among the book’s many strengths lies its combination of theory and practice. Liu references Joseph Nye’s notion of soft power and compares China’s centrally managed, state-driven model with a less centralised, more organic Western approach. Her empirical case studies from partnerships within universities to media outreach demonstrate the limits of cultural diplomacy as a project led by political energies rather than a genuine desire to engage audiences.
The study also situates its publication in the historical development of China’s propaganda, noting that there is a historical thread connecting the first socialist campaigns issuing from China to the more contemporary initiatives such as cultural exchanges developing from the Belt and Road Initiative.
Though Liu’s treatment of digital diplomacy is somewhat brief, she suggests, importantly, that exposure and impact in shaping China’s image globally are growing rapidly through platforms such as X (Twitter) and Facebook, especially using the aggressive “wolf warrior” approach (pp. 145-146). This book may have been sustained in relevance if it delved into some of these appearances of those trends, including audience reception.
Describing Liu’s text, it is clear that it is systematic, clear, and mostly free of jargon and thus would be useful to specialist and general audiences. That said, a few sections, e.g. serving between the Confucius Institutes and the state media, leave the impression of potentially excessive repetition, while the study could have been enhanced by drawing upon a broader array of case studies. Moreover, her focus on state actors somewhat sidelines the potential role of private and civil society initiatives in diversifying China’s soft power portfolio.
Nevertheless, the book’s central analytical device -the “Great Leap Outward” – is an effective metaphor that encapsulates Beijing’s preference for numerical targets and large-scale campaigns over qualitative, audience-driven engagement. Liu’s statement that “soft power cannot be commanded into existence” (p. 211) serves as a reminder that credibility, authenticity, and collaboration cannot be created by fiat and bureaucratic propensity. While Liu neither promotes nor completely rejects China’s soft power project, she offers a fair-minded criticism that recognises expectations and disappointments.
The unconflicted position positions the work as a valuable reference for scholars of Chinese foreign policy, international relations, and cultural diplomacy. For policymakers, this also provides a sober assessment of why China’s cultural charm offensive is still hamstrung by its political structure.
It is an interesting contribution to the field of international relations. Liu’s book is appropriate for individuals studying international relations, political science, or Chinese studies. While Sinologists will find the book particularly helpful in their studies of China, individuals who study soft power in global governance or even public diplomacy will find its analysis helpful.
In summary, China’s Cultural Diplomacy: A Great Leap Outward? is a timely addition to the literature of soft power and analytically rigorous. It exposes some of the contradictions of China’s global cultural strategy, providing insights that will be helpful in a geopolitical narrative that is one of the most visible stories of our time.
The book convincingly illustrates the fact that soft power, unlike infrastructure, cannot be commanded into existence by a central politburo. It must be earned through credibility, authenticity, and the spirit of cooperation—none of which China’s political system readily embraces. Anyone seeking the reason why China’s charm offensive rarely hits the mark should read this book.
Relevant, thoughtful, and very readable, this is a useful resource for anyone wanting to understand China’s emergent role in a globalised world.
References:
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429320293
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