The VUB China Network is organizing a seminar on ‘The Chinese approach to public diplomacy – A clash of ideas?’. It will take place on May 4, 2016 at 13:00 at Campus Etterbeek, Aula Q Room B, Pleinlaan 2, 1050 Brussels.

China’s assertion that it can rise peacefully is at times contested in the Western political and scholarly community. China’s increasing importance on the global stage coincides with its efforts to project and spread Chinese norms and values around the globe. Based on its international economic and political momentum, China has developed a strategy to expand its cultural influence. The strategy borrows from modern Western concepts such as soft power as well as ancient Chinese statecraft. An important vehicle of China’s diplomacy has been Confucius Centers around the world, modeled on long-standing Western equivalents, which offer services ranging from Chinese language lessons, cultural and political information to collaborative Western-Chinese research projects.

The detailed program and registration is available at the website.