This article explores how Sino-African relations are affected by the growing number of Africans who pursue higher education in China. China actively recruits African university students in order to increase soft power and generate income from the export of education services. Semi-structured interviews with African university students suggest that China fails to reach these policy objectives because the students are disappointed with the quality of the education they receive. However, the students engage in trade and contribute to the fast-growing export of Chinese products to African markets, thereby reinforcing the ties between China and Africa in unintended ways.

China's recruitment of African university students: policy efficacy and unintended outcomes

The Theory and Reality of Soft Power: Practical Approaches in East Asia S.Lee Soft Power as Productive Power Y.Lee Measuring Soft Power in East Asia: An Overview of Soft Power in East Asia on Affective and Normative Dimensions B.Jhee & N.Lee Modern Japan and the Quest for Attractive Power A.Fukushima Soft Power and Public Diplomacy: The Case of Indonesia R.Sukma Taiwan's Soft Power and the Future of Cross-Strait Relations: Can the Tail Wag the Dog? Y.Chu South Korean Soft Power and How South Korea Views the Soft Power of Others S.J.Lee The Limits of China's Soft Power in Europe: Beijing's Public Diplomacy Puzzle I.D'Hooghe Asian Perceptions of American Soft Power M.M.Bouton & G.Holyk The Complexities of Economic Soft Power: The US-China Case B.I.Page & T.Xie Concluding Reflections on Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in East Asia J.Melissen

/pdf/public-diplomacy-and-soft-power-in-east-asia-tlcmqcjila.pdf

Public diplomacy and soft power in East Asia

Central to this article is the use of sports mega-events as part of a state's “soft power” strategy. The article offers two things: first, a critique of the “soft power” concept and a clearer understanding of what it refers to by drawing on the political use of sports mega-events by states; second, the article seeks to understand how and why sports mega-events are attractive to states with different political systems and at different stages of economic development. To this end a case study of an advanced capitalist state (London Olympics, 2012) and a so-called “emerging” state (FIFA World Cup, 2014; Rio Olympics, 2016) will be undertaken in order to shed light on the role of sports events as part of soft power strategies across different categories of states.

/pdf/interrogating-states-soft-power-strategies-a-case-study-of-57892fzqyt.pdf

Interrogating States’ Soft Power Strategies: A Case Study of Sports Mega-Events in Brazil and the UK

List of abbreviations Preface Acknowledgements 1. Introduction 2. The scope of cultural policy 3. The policy process 4. Arts policy 5. Cultural industries 6. Cultural heritage 7. Culture in urban and regional development 8. Tourism 9. Culture in the international economy 10. Cultural diversity 11. Arts education 12. Culture in economic development 13. Intellectual property 14. Cultural statistics 15. Conclusions References Index.

/pdf/the-economics-of-cultural-policy-36np2p7xql.pdf

The Economics of Cultural Policy

The production of a new and attractive ‘Japan Brand’ - one that resonates with the emerging global image of ‘Cool Japan’ associated with Japan's popular culture - is a national project incorporated in the Japanese Intellectual Property Strategy promoted by the state since 2002. This article critically examines the Japan Brand Strategy as a government-owned production site of Cool Japan imagery and as a cultural policy designed to promote a specific sense of cultural identity. Detailed reconstructions of the selective appropriation of cultural products in order to create a new cultural imagery for Japan, of the meanings attached to this imagery and of the tactics devised to spread it, highlight how problematical it is to appropriate market-made images of Cool Japan for national ends. Furthermore, by examining the various functions attributed to this national strategy, I show that while it is primarily promoted as a means for enhancing Japan's industrial policy and cultural diplomacy, it is also devised as a mechanism to mobilize the nation during unsettled times. Through examining the Japan Brand Strategy, this article highlights the challenges faced today by cultural policy makers, questioning the contemporary relevance of the modernistic approach to the state as a regulatory cultural planning apparatus.

Japan Brand Strategy: The Taming of ‘Cool Japan’ and the Challenges of Cultural Planning in a Postmodern Age

Japan is seeking to project its “soft power” through the allure of manga and anime in its public diplomacy The production, diffusion and global consumption of manga and anime are driven by market forces and consumer tastes and not by the Japanese state However, the latter is seeking to harness this popular culture to burnish Tokyo’s international image Despite the attractiveness of Japanese pop culture and other more traditional forms of public diplomacy, Tokyo’s pursuit of “soft power” and a good international image is undermined by its failure to overcome its burden of history

Peng Er Lam

Papers

Japan’s Quest for “Soft Power”: Attraction and Limitation