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China's cultural diplomacy in Malaysia during Najib Razak's premiership
[journal article]
Abstract This article aims to provide an analysis of China's cultural diplomacy (CCD) in Malaysia in the latter years of the premiership of Najib Razak (2015-2018). It intends to reflect on the efforts China has been exerting in order to increase its soft power in the Southeast Asian nation. The authors have... view more
This article aims to provide an analysis of China's cultural diplomacy (CCD) in Malaysia in the latter years of the premiership of Najib Razak (2015-2018). It intends to reflect on the efforts China has been exerting in order to increase its soft power in the Southeast Asian nation. The authors have identified and analyzed four major fields of CCD: the activities of two Confucius Institutes; the first overseas campus of a renowned Chinese university; invocations of shared history, embodied mainly by the figure of the legendary admiral-eunuch Zheng He, regularly commemorated as China's historic envoy of peace; and Malay translations of classical Chinese novels. The article's findings reveal an intricate pattern of networks involving various actors, both Chinese and Malaysian, state, semi-state, and non-state, pursuing their own particular interests, which tend to converge and overlap with the aims of Chinese cultural diplomacy. The implementation of CCD has also been formed by the local political and societal structures: a) a "special" relation between Razak's cabinet and the PRC leadership, revolving around party-based diplomacy and intensive economic cooperation especially between 2015 and May 2018; b) the presence of a large Chinese community, which provides opportunities and, at the same time, creates limitations for the China's cultural diplomacy practice in Malaysia.... view less
Keywords
cultural relations; bilateral relations; Malaysia; university level of education; diplomacy; China
Classification
International Relations, International Politics, Foreign Affairs, Development Policy
Free Keywords
Confucius institute; cultural diplomacy; soft power; teriary education; Zheng He
Document language
English
Publication Year
2019
Page/Pages
p. 111-129
Journal
ASEAS - Austrian Journal of South-East Asian Studies, 12 (2019) 1
ISSN
1999-253X
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0