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This is a documentary study of education abroad policy in the People's Republic of China (PRC) between 1978 and 2009. By examining the dynamics underpinning the PRC state's efforts to shape the flow of Chinese students and scholars from and into China, this article reveals the major strategies that have enabled education abroad to become a source of brain gain. It argues that China's brain gain strategies feature three characteristics: a proactive diplomatic approach to international educational relations; strategic dependence on foreign higher education resources and a decentralized economic mechanism to raise foreign-trained human capital. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of Chinese experience for our understanding of the complex and dynamic relations between the state, the market, universities and international relations as relating to cross-border academic mobility, international educational relations, and national development in a globalizing world.

Mediated public diplomacy scholarship investigates the manner in which governments attempt to shape the framing of its leaders, people, and foreign policy in other nations’ media outlets. A growing body of literature identifies agenda-building efforts by these governments who often use state-sponsored media platforms to promote some issues and attributes as more salient than others. The current study provides a unique examination of China's use of its Xinhua News Agency as an information subsidy for US news outlets. Study results point to a limited transfer of issue salience between the Chinese news agency and the US news outlets. Non-significant findings were identified regarding attribute agenda building. The results of the study identify a significant intermedia agenda-setting effect between the US news outlets, withThe New York Timesserving as a conduit between Chinese and US news agendas. Results are discussed in the context of global political public relations and mediated public diplomacy scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of activities by Chinese foreign policy think tanks, with a particular focus on developments over the last decade. Covering a sample of prominent institutes, it provides up-to-date information about their academic, advisory and PR functions, and highlights major differences between individual institutes and organizational groups. In line with the findings, I argue that Chinese think tanks have undergone a remarkable increase and professionalization in their academic work, as well as made big strides in improving their footprint in the media. Finally, the article also considers new developments in networking organizations that have been particularly important in bringing experts together to pursue mutual interests, and how these relate to changes in Beijing's international agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In late 2011 and early 2012, the People's Republic of China drew on its most unique diplomatic tool: the giant panda. Although this phenomenon is widely covered by the global media, the practice of panda diplomacy is only barely discussed in diplomatic or international relations studies. This article uses the most recent revival of this diplomatic practice for a closer analysis and locates it as a special version of animal diplomacy within the frame of public diplomacy. It first argues that panda diplomacy is -- besides all the efforts to promote and support animal conservation and biological research -- a political undertaking, which is symbolically used by the Chinese government to win hearts and minds in selected foreign countries. Second, it highlights an important aspect of some Chinese public diplomacy initiatives, namely China's ability to integrate international partners in its attempts to shape its global image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Can we construct transnational or international public service advertising to counterbalance the proliferation of transnational commercial advertising? As an important first step in exploring the possibility of such an application of shared media public diplomacy among nations, this paper describes a complete survey of commercial and public service advertisements collected from the public spaces of subway systems in American and Chinese cities in 2010 – New York, Washington, DC, Shanghai and Beijing – to reveal the range of themes of commercial and public service ads in these spaces. The study reveals first that analogous commercial and public service ads are ubiquitous in the public spaces of both Chinese and American cities. Second, many of the themes that might appear in international or transnational public service ads are already being portrayed in ads created by local or national governments or NGOs, although these themes are portrayed in ads created by different sets of actors in China and in the US: government actors and a few international NGOs in Chinese cities, and governments, corporations and non-profit organizations in the case of American cities. Finally, the survey reveals that in all four cities there are many commercial advertisements that appeal to the identity of a transnational consumer, but that there are almost no public service ads that appeal to the identity of a transnational citizen: merely local or national ones who can solve such public problems as global warming, education, and health issues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This study used the conceptual framework of organizational–public relationship cultivation strategies to quantitatively evaluate how the Chinese government''s international media relationship cultivation strategies at news conferences changed from 2001 to 2009. It found that the Chinese government has begun to enhance its international media relations efforts but that there is room for further improvement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Since 2004 China has set up over 700 Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms around the world to promote its language and culture and thereby to shape its image. Despite this impressive number Confucius Institutes are surprisingly understudied, especially in terms of their actual structure, operation mode and activities. This paper uses German Confucius Institutes as a case study to bridge this gap. It first discusses the concepts of public and cultural diplomacy and culture institutes as a conceptual tool to analyze Confucius Institutes. It then turns to the case study to provide empirical data to better understand this instrument of China's image shaping efforts. It argues that Confucius Institutes are connected to the rise of China and a unique member of the family of national culture institutes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 Olympic Games is so significant in reconstructing Chinese nationalism as well as reshaping the state-society relationship because in the single year of 2008 most of the political mobilization and social movements were driven by the games; most of the focusing events (e.g. accidents and disasters) are redirected or reinterpreted due to the games; most of the contradictions and conflicts are concealed or exposed under the name of the games. Both the authorities and the public faced more opportunities, challenges and pressures from the domestic and international community because of the games. The reconstruction of Olympic-mobilized nationalism then lies in such dynamic official and popular responses and also reflects transforming state-society relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study offers an in-depth analysis on the closedown of a Starbucks café inside the Forbidden City, one of the most recognized historic sites in Beijing, China, under the pressure of a Web-based activist campaign. Adopting the circuit of culture model, this study illustrates the intricate role of culture in international public relations within an Internet-based media context, as well as the tension surrounding the conflicting identities between Starbucks’ global presence and the local sensitivity attached to the cultural heritage—the Forbidden City. This study also highlights the role of new media (e.g., blogs) in China and its impact on international public relations practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The image of a nation is crucial in the conduct of international relations (Wang, J. (2006). Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited. Public Relations Review, 32, 91–96). A favorable image plays a critical role in asserting one''s influence (Benoit, W. L., & Brinson, S. L. (1994). AT&T: “Apologies are not enough”. Communication Quarterly, 42, 75–88; Wang, J. (2006). Managing national reputation and international relations in the global era: Public diplomacy revisited. Public Relations Review, 32, 91–96). Often, strategic communication tools like public relations and media diplomacy are used to enhance a nation''s image (. News agencies, national images, and global media events. Journalism Quarterly, 77, 8–21). In 2007, China''s reputation as “the workshop of the world” (. China: A workshop of the Cd and a market for Europe. At: http://ideas.repec.org/a/cii/cepill/2005-245.html. Accessed on 14 May 2009) came under severe threat with a series of product recalls. This was arguably the first time that allegations of product deficiencies were targeted at a country. Using the image repair theory, this paper examined the strategies used and the image these strategies generated for China. Findings showed that the initial defensive strategies generated an image of a hurried and harried country. After it was willing to confront the crises through corrective action, a surer and more determined image emerged. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Taking the dispute between the United States and China over the collision of a U.S. Navy plane with a Chinese jet in April 2001, the research confirmed at certain the Contingency Theory variables that affect the U.S. government's stance in resolving the conflict. It supported the postulates of the theory: Symmetry through a dialogue may not be inherently ethical; in a morally intractable conflict, accommodation may be impossible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the emerging discourse on, and capability of the PRC in, information warfare (IW)--as well as the implications of such developments for cross-Strait and U.S.-PRC relations. Chinese discourse shows that informed PLA officers realize that IW constitutes the war of the future and plays a critical role in the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA) ---a key step necessary for China's military modernization. One allure of this type of warfare is the potential for China to wage an "asymmetric war" --i.e., the use of surprise force by a weaker party against a stronger but vulnerable adversary--by applying traditional stratagems. The Chinese argue that using such traditional maxims as Sun Tzu's "overcoming the superior with the inferior" and Mao Zedong's "people's war" in modern warfare would both counter overall American strengths by focusing on certain "pockets of excellence" and present China with a credible military option for achieving its political objective of unification with Taiwan (on Beijing's terms). These strategic considerations could, however, introduce instability into the Taiwan Strait; they also challenge conventional wisdom in international relations. This paper critically evaluates the doctrinal-capability gap in China's 1W development--the double-edged nature of technology, the low connectivity of Chinese society, and Taiwan's responses--and concludes with a cautionary note on an emergent digital "mutual assured destruction" (MAD) dynamic across the Taiwan Strait. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]