China to expand soft power push through overseas cultural centres
China plans to spend 360 million yuan (HK$454 million) on expanding its overseas cultural centres this year - nearly double last year's amount - amid government efforts to bolster its soft power abroad.
China plans to spend 360 million yuan (HK$454 million) on expanding its overseas cultural centres this year - nearly double last year's amount - amid government efforts to bolster its soft power abroad.
But observers are sceptical whether the centres, which are different from the Confucius Institutes, can improve the nation's image overseas, especially given similar efforts have attracted criticism.
China currently runs 20 overseas cultural centres, used mainly to host exhibitions and teach Chinese music, dance, fine arts, language, martial arts and cuisine. It will open two more this year - in Brussels and Singapore - the Ministry of Culture said, and other centres were planned for Nepal, Pakistan and Tanzania. China aims to have 50 across the world by 2020.
The ministry had also finished surveying locations for centres in Sweden, Romania and Hungary, which could open as early as this year if plans went well, said Yan Dongsheng, deputy director of the ministry's finance department.
The country set up its first two cultural centres - in Mauritius and Benin, in West Africa - in 1988. Since then, it had invested more than 1.3 billion yuan on the effort, Yan said.
The fresh push behind the centres comes amid a backlash against the nation's other main soft power vehicle, the Confucius Institutes, which number 476 globally.
Several universities in North America and Europe have ended their partnership with the institutes in recent years, citing concerns that they restrict academic freedom, conduct surveillance of Chinese students abroad and promote the political aims of the Communist Party.
Jiang Zhenxiao, director of the Chinese Cultural Centre in Mauritius, said the two organisations were very different platforms, despite sharing similar activities. Confucius Institutes mainly dealt with students and focused on teaching the Chinese language, Jiang said.
"They need the schools' cooperation. If the school authorities don't approve, they can't hold activities. They have more limitations," Jiang said.
"Chinese cultural centres are different. It is a bigger platform facing all sectors of society, and it is entirely China's own venue. We also host more kinds of activities and provide a broader curriculum," he said.
Zhan Jiang, a journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said relying on cultural publicity was not sufficient to boost China's global influence. "China should move further towards the rule of law and opening up," he said.
"China is still fumbling on its path towards the rule of law. The key is to coordinate economic development with other aspects."
