NPR is launching a new series on “China’s Growing Influence”:
In many media reports, China is portrayed as an economic success story for its rapid development and achievements in pulling millions of people out of poverty. It also represents a somewhat darker success story: the Communist Party’s track record of economic reform without loosening its stranglehold on political power.
But China has had difficulty deciding what values it stands for and can promote. To the official Chinese mindset, the way to build soft power is to crank out more and better propaganda. Critics argue that the salient feature of government propaganda is that it tends to fly in the face of reality. With soft power, analysts point out, it’s what you do, not what you say.
The first installment was broadcast today:
In Part One, Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing on how China is learning to use its newfound diplomatic muscle, and how its increasing involvement in the world economy and international institutions is changing its view of its role on the international stage.
