Chinese soft power influence in South Asia : case studies of of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh /

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Student Theses

2022

Hossain, Md Farid

Hong Kong : The Education University of Hong Kong

Thesis

The aim of this study is to explore the directions of change associated with the rise of China and its soft power influence in South Asia. This study assessed the veracity of the soft power notion by measuring China’s projection of soft power in South Asia and explored the impact and efficiency of China’s soft power in South Asian countries, especially Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and their policies and attitudes towards China. The data were collected from official documents and semi-structured interviews with 27 government officials and private sector individuals from the three countries mentioned above. While the previous literature demonstrated culture, values, political system and diplomacy are practical tools of Chinese soft power that have produced positive perceptions of China, the present study’s findings suggest otherwise. The present study develops a new, more nuanced and innovative means of assessing soft power and measuring the impact of outcomes in terms of influence in South Asia by China. The findings showed that economic temptation is the principal source of China’s soft power in South Asia. Regarding trade, low-priced products, variation and availability of products have lured the people in case countries. Similarly, in terms of investment, entrepreneurship and jobs creation, infrastructure development and concessional loans were the processes for tempting the case countries in this study. The soft power of economic statecraft has been more impactful in South Asia as socio-economic development is both desirable and necessary for the region. Nye’s non-materialistic form of soft power overlooked economic rationality. According to Nye, economic power (“carrots”) refers to hard power. However, China’s practice of its soft power is somewhat inconsistent with Nye’s notion of soft power. That said, it indicates some form of his “smart power” notion. Chinese economic involvement with case countries has further advanced China’s image-building efforts through public and private diplomacy focusing on cultural, educational, outbound tourism, and people-to-people interactions. However, in terms of familiarity, attractiveness and acceptance, traditional tools of Chinese soft power are the least effective in South Asia. Culturally, Beijing cannot create strong supporters, benefactors, and agenda-setters. Comparing the three case countries, Chinese soft power concerning culture, education, and diplomacy is most successful in Pakistan than in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. This study suggests hard power resources shall also be part of the analytical concerns in understanding the actual outcomes of the sender country’s soft power projection in the target country. Soft power should be conceptualized in accordance with its purpose and context of use. The present thesis reveals that military exchanges and diplomacy are significant ingredients of China’s soft power projection and have generated soft power “spillover” in real-world contexts. Hard power resources such as China’s strategic linkages, military supplies and anti-Indian stance charm political elites and people in the case countries and enhance Beijing’s agenda-setting abilities to achieve its geopolitical and geo-economic outcomes. Soft and hard power are always intertwined. The deployment of Chinese soft power in the three countries can be considered some form of “smart power” strategy, combining the most effective use of economic and military tools with less effective traditional soft power tools. As evidence to varying degrees in different South Asian countries, this thesis proves that economic leverage, diplomatic outreach and military exchanges between governments — even those that are deemed to elicit hard power effects— could also be deployed with the intent to generate soft power results in South Asia, where Beijing’s soft power strategy has been most effective in Pakistan, moderate in Bangladesh and least effective in Sri Lanka in helping shape or change their policies and attitudes towards China. Soft-power diplomacy fills the gap between China and South Asia in asymmetrical economic relations; however, it gives rise to issues of distrust and discontent towards China, such as asymmetrical trade relations, unproductive investment, accusations of strategic leverage and debt traps. China’s soft power effectiveness in South Asia primarily depends on Beijing’s ability and willingness to help the region’s economic development by lessening the negative effect of its economic statecraft. However, Chinese soft power is less likely to be sustainable in the case countries unless Beijing makes its culture, language, values, education and diplomacy attractive in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

LG51.H43 Dr 2022eb Hossainmf

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/DVaT7SGj