Abstract

According to Joseph Nye’s definition, soft power is the ability to create attraction and appeal to other countries by utilizing three core elements: culture, political ideals, and policies. After the concept of “soft power” was introduced to China in the early 1990s, Chinese leaders quickly adopted and implemented a policy of increasing the country’s soft power to restore its national image on the international stage after the incident on June 4^th, 1989. After being imported to China, soft power evoked a debate between two main schools of thought: the first school asserts that the core of soft power is culture, whereas the second school claims that political power is the core of soft power. In that context, the culture school has exerted the greatest influence on policymaking: China’s leadership has embraced the central role of culture in the exercise of soft power. This article will focus on analyzing how China implements its cultural soft power policy, thereby drawing conclusions and assessments of the successes and limitations of this policy. Regarding research methods, the article synthesizes and analyzes data from speeches by Chinese leaders as well as articles by scholars studying China’s soft power.