Exchange for change: China's soft power
- By Harvey Dzodin
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 12, 2012
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The Friendship Communication Organization of Ambassadors and Madams on Knowing Chinese Culture has organized nearly 100 activities for foreign diplomats in more than 100 cities and regions, most recently in Hetian,a town located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. |
China can boast an unparalleled record of manufacturing and exporting virtually all goods known to mankind. There is however, one glaring exception to this success story: Soft power. This may gradually be changing however, especially in the light of Vice President Xi Jinping's visit to America earlier this year. This trip heralded a new era of Sino-American co-productions with Hollywood, one of the driving forces in the success of U.S. soft power. Yet this will take time. In the meantime, China will need all the goodwill ambassadors it can possibly get.
The Friendship Communication Organization of Ambassadors and Madams on Knowing Chinese Culture was founded a decade ago by John Xing, who has a double PhD and a wealth of international experience. Dr. Xing noted that after China's reform and opening up, many foreigners wanted to do business with China, but knew little or nothing about the country and its culture. Xing made it his goal in life to build a high-end, globally leading Chinese NGO platform for multilateral cultural exchanges.
The Wild Aid Association may have recruited Yao Ming as its Ambassador for Shark Conservation and the United Nations Environmental Program Li Bingbing as its Global Goodwill Ambassador, but only the Friendship Communication Organization has Beijing's diplomatic Corps, from the ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary all the way down the diplomatic hierarchy, to spread the word on what they've learned while living in China's capital for an extended period of time.
What a brilliant stroke of statecraft! The opinions of ambassadors and diplomats carry weight in their own countries as well as in Beijing. But China remains a diverse country with a huge land mass and 56 ethnic groups inhabiting it, the largest of which are Han, Zhuang and Uyghur. And Beijing is no more typical of China than New York is of the United States. To catch glimpses of the real China, it is necessary to visit the length and breadth of the country, which can sometimes lead us to places well off the beaten path.
The Friendship Communication Organization has organized nearly 100 activities for foreign diplomats in more than 100 cities and regions, most recently in Hetian,a town located in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Under Dr. Xing's leadership as its secretary-general, the Friendship Communication Organization's dedicated staff of fewer than 20 works closely together with local governments in order to design programs conducive to cultural and commercial exchanges. These events include ensuring that diplomats not only enjoy interesting programs, but also travel in a secure and comfortable environment.
Xinjiang literally means "new frontier" and so it is. Hetian has a much more Middle Eastern feel to it, than one of China's far west. It is exotic to say the least, including the people, their clothing and cuisine. While many foreign visitors go to the regional capital, Urumqi, or to Kashgar, only very few make their way to Hetian, a modern-day oasis reclaimed from the world's second largest desert- the Taklimakan desert.
Highlights of the visit to Hetian included desert culture, local crafts such as its renowned jade mining and carving, silk and wool carpet making, and Uyghur cuisine. The latter is generally much more varied and tasty than that of Beijing.
A total of 15 ambassadors and 35 other diplomats experienced all this and more during their recent Hetian adventure. The leader of the delegation to Hetian, Serbian Ambassador Miomir Udovički said:
"I have been on many trips with this organization from north to south and from east to west. They are doing good things for both sides: for China and for diplomats. This is because they are enabling us to learn more about China and to see how things are in the places we visit with them. For this trip that we just took to Xinjiang, until now we could only dream of things such as how silk carpets are made or learning about jade. On the other hand, such trips are useful to see what the Chinese have achieved without hiding the problems that still exist. When it comes to these kinds of cultural visits for the diplomatic community, China is definitely the champion."
Participating diplomats will next visit Hunan province, including a trip to Shaoshan, birthplace of Chairman Mao Zedong, as well as Changsha's Wangcheng district, hometown of the legendary Chinese role model Lei Feng.
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