| Summary: | 博士 === 國立政治大學 === 亞太研究英語博士學位學程(IDAS) === 104 === This research assumes that China’s cultural soft power relies on language teaching and cultural programs of the Confucius Institutes (CIs). The study selects twelve Confucius Institutes in the United States (U.S.) for analysis; examines their language courses and outreach programs; and analyzes how they contribute to China’s cultural soft power.
This dissertation asks two central questions. The first question is, what are the positive and negative views on the CIs in the U.S.? The answer is that the CIs in the U.S. are seen with a considerable degree of ambivalence. The CIs are attractive for universities seeking engagement with China, but they are also viewed as a threat. The supporters claim that knowledge and skill gained at a CI will equip students to be more employable. To critics, the CIs are situated at campuses serving the interests of the Chinese Communists. They are concerned that the CIs’ presence on campuses would interfere with academic freedom. The second question is, how effective are the CI’s project in shaping China’s image? Here the answer is not very effective. For CI students, the vocabulary they used to describe China has changed from the negative (boredom, alien, foot-binding, and communism) to the positive terms (advanced, amazing, cool, and diligent). The proportion of those with positive views of China moves up, and those with negative views go down. However, average Americans know very little about the CI. Even when they hear about the CI, most Americans are suspicious about Beijing’s intention to set up the Institute. In view of negative views from media and scholars, many Americans do not trust CI and hold a pessimistic view on China.
The main conclusion of the study is that China’s cultural soft power has gathered limited momentum in the U.S. through the CIs. Although the improvement of China’s image can’t be achieved by CIs alone, they have made some initial contributions to smoother relations between the two countries.
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