https://www.scmp.com/rss/330140/feed Tracey Fallon is an assistant professor of China studies at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com As the world comes to terms with the United States’ imposition of trade tariffs, the anniversary of the Bandung Conference offers a timely reminder of how, at the height of the Cold War, a group of like-minded countries came together to build solidarity and push for a fairer system of international relations. From April 18 to 24, 1955, Indonesia’s first president, Sukarno, welcomed 28 leaders from Asian and African countries to Bandung on the island of Java. The conference is today seen as a... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3307744/time-china-align-nations-its-1955?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3307744/time-china-align-nations-its-1955?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Apr 2025 01:30:08 +0000 Following Xi Jinping’s anointment as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China in 2012, he highlighted the need to “tell China’s story well” to make the most of its meteoric rise. This meant investing significant time and resources in wielding “cultural soft power” abroad. Yet, a decade on, the response from outsiders is that China’s soft power efforts have been a resounding failure. Global perceptions of China have grown worse in recent years, except in a few countries like Pakistan and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3198008/climate-action-where-china-can-really-tell-its-story-well?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3198008/climate-action-where-china-can-really-tell-its-story-well?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Nov 2022 19:30:09 +0000 Whether the increased efforts by the United States and its allies to contain the China threat in the Indo-Pacific region – most recently with the Aukus security alliance – makes strategic sense has been heavily debated. However, an overlooked aspect of the growing US-China tension in the Indo-Pacific is how history is being used to justify and critique policies. The US Defence Department’s 2019 Indo-Pacific Strategy Report describes China as a revisionist power that “seeks to reorder the region... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/united-states/article/3150617/us-china-rivalry-and-danger-using-history-justify?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/united-states/article/3150617/us-china-rivalry-and-danger-using-history-justify?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Oct 2021 19:30:21 +0000 China has arguably invested more than any other country in public diplomacy initiatives during the last two decades. There have been glitzy events such as the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which grabbed headlines and showcased China’s development to the world. There has also been heavy investment in education, both externally through Confucius Institutes and internally through efforts to attract international students to China’s higher education sector. Turning China into a popular destination for... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3137484/how-chinas-treatment-international-students-hurts-its-public?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3137484/how-chinas-treatment-international-students-hurts-its-public?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jun 2021 17:00:00 +0000 This will be remembered by many as the year that China did near-irreparable damage to its international reputation and image. Chinese leaders and policymakers have generally understood that China’s gradual rise to international prominence would bring with it challenges, especially regarding the perceptions of others. To allay the fears of outsiders about its rise, China has, for the past decade or so, attempted a multipronged charm offensive aimed at the rest of the world. Billions were spent on... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/year-chinas-international-reputation-took-battering/article/3043669?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/year-chinas-international-reputation-took-battering/article/3043669?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Dec 2019 10:30:26 +0000 This will be remembered by many as the year that China did near-irreparable damage to its international reputation and image. Chinese leaders and policymakers have generally understood that China’s gradual rise to international prominence would bring with it challenges, especially regarding the perceptions of others. To allay the fears of outsiders about its rise, China has, for the past decade or so, attempted a multipronged charm offensive aimed at the rest of the world. Billions were spent on... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3043543/china-cannot-just-rely-its-economic-might-silence-growing-army?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3043543/china-cannot-just-rely-its-economic-might-silence-growing-army?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Dec 2019 01:30:13 +0000 Judging by 2018, China’s goal of global influence and “winning hearts and minds” remains partially elusive. In the West, numerous events have negatively affected perceptions of China’s international role, from the arrest of a Chinese state-media reporter at a forum in Britain, to reports of Xinjiang’s detention camps for Muslim ethnic minorities, to the possibly retaliatory imprisonment of Canadians following the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer. China even had a diplomatic row with... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2182196/chinas-soft-power-play-what-will-it-take-get?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2182196/chinas-soft-power-play-what-will-it-take-get?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jan 2019 19:00:30 +0000