The Confucius Institute and Chinese public diplomacy in Africa: A propaganda agency masquerading as an NGO?

Zhao Alexandre Huang

The Confucius Institute and Chinese public diplomacy in Africa: A propaganda agency masquerading as an NGO?
Suivre cet auteur Zhao Alexandre Huang
In Hermès, La Revue Volume 89, Issue 1, January 2022, pages 60 to 66
Translated and edited by Cadenza Academic Translations
Translator: Morag Young; Editor: Zahira Ransome; Senior editor: Mark Mellor

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In terms of communication, public diplomacy “refers to a combination of discourse and practices through which organizations, be they governmental or non-governmental, seek to influence discreetly the attitudes and perceptions of overseas audiences” (Huang and Hardy 2021, 74), not only as regards the image of the organization itself but also vis-à-vis the country it represents. In the Chinese context, public diplomacy involves interweaving the promotion of “stories” with public relations practices, in order to “spread [attractive ideas about China] as widely as possible, using methods of dissemination accessible to all and that enjoy broad popular participation” (Xi 2014, 195). In other words, “traditional” media propaganda has been replaced by long-term strategic communication based on the considered use of a set of communication tools to establish a relationship with the target audiences, who will then listen to “China stories.”
This concept of “China stories” (zhongguo gushi) is currently at the heart of the Chinese government’s political and scientific discussions about its investments in international communication. The term, used by President Xi Jinping, implicitly refers to a new “major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.” According to researchers from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) (Tan 2016; Zhou 2010), relating Chinese stories on the international stage enables the party-state to promote its policies, actions, and initiatives, as well as its economic development process and its modernization…

English

The Confucius Institute and its centers of Chinese culture have always been considered essential for developing a favorable image of China in African countries. Although self-declared nonprofit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Confucius Institute and its cultural centers disseminate ideas with the aim of seducing and influencing a target audience. Their aim is to promote China not only as a country of opportunity but also as a provider of opportunities abroad. In this context, Africa is a land ripe for experimentation, where China can impose its political agenda on international affairs and strengthen its international influence. This article will analyze to what extent the Confucius Institute acts as a Chinese-style NGO. It will also highlight the way in which this institution, qualified as “civil society” by Chinese political scientists within the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is redefining and instrumentalizing corporate social/societal responsibility in support of Chinese public diplomacy in Africa in order to construct and defend the image of Beijing as a benefactor.

Confucius Institute
public diplomacy
NGO
nonprofit non-governmental organization
CSR
China-Africa
Kenya

A“non-governmental” Chinese institution embedded in African nations
The Confucius Institute’s communication practices: Toward instrumentalization of corporate social responsibility?
The Confucius Institute: A discreet agency for Chinese propaganda in Africa?

Zhao Alexandre Huang

Zhao Alexandre Huang is an associate professor of information and communication sciences at University Paris-Nanterre and is a member of the Dicen-IDF laboratory (Dispositifs d’Information et de Communication à l’Ere Numérique – Paris, Ile-de-France) (Information and Communication Devices in the Digital Era, Ile-de-France region). He is also an associate member of the Centre de recherches pluridisciplinaires multilingues (Multilingual Multidisciplinary Research Center). His research focuses on political and public communication strategies, institutional practices, strategic storytelling, and social media practices in public diplomacy.

zhao.huang@parisnanterre.fr

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ISO 690		Copy HUANG Zhao Alexandre, « L’Institut Confucius et la diplomatie publique chinoise en Afrique : un organe de propagande déguisée en ONG ? », Hermès, La Revue, 2022/1 (n° 89), p. 60-66. URL : https://preprod.cairn.info/revue-hermes-la-revue-2022-1-page-60.htm
ISO 690		Copy HUANG Zhao Alexandre, "The Confucius Institute and Chinese public diplomacy in Africa: A propaganda agency masquerading as an NGO?", Hermès, La Revue, 2022/1 (No 89), p. 60-66. URL: https://preprod.cairn-int.info/journal-hermes-la-revue-2022-1-page-60.htm
MLA		Copy Huang, Zhao Alexandre. « L’Institut Confucius et la diplomatie publique chinoise en Afrique : un organe de propagande déguisée en ONG ? », Hermès, La Revue, vol. 89, no. 1, 2022, pp. 60-66.
MLA		Copy Huang, Zhao Alexandre. "The Confucius Institute and Chinese public diplomacy in Africa: A propaganda agency masquerading as an NGO?", Hermès, La Revue, vol. 89, no. 1, 2022, pp. 60-66.
APA		Copy Huang, Z. (2022). L’Institut Confucius et la diplomatie publique chinoise en Afrique : un organe de propagande déguisée en ONG ?. Hermès, La Revue, 89, 60-66. https://preprod.cairn.info/revue--2022-1-page-60.htm.
APA		Copy Huang, Z. (2022). The Confucius Institute and Chinese public diplomacy in Africa: A propaganda agency masquerading as an NGO?. Hermès, La Revue, 89, 60-66. https://preprod.cairn-int.info/journal--2022-1-page-60.htm.

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