| Summary/Abstract |
Since 2003, the Chinese government has launched a succession of public diplomacy campaigns and programmes, the dynamics, potentials and implications of which have drawn growing scrutiny from Chinese scholars and government officials. Based on document reviews and interviews with Chinese scholars, officials, and think tanks, however, this article finds that the focus of the existing literature is on the image China wishes to project to the outside world, and that there is still little consensus on the strategic motivations behind the country’s conduct of public diplomacy. In its conclusion, the article expounds that garnering international respect for China’s political and social system and respect domestically for its political legitimacy is what the Chinese government really cares about. This being the case, China will not be satisfied to be merely an emerging power in light of its greater ambition to rejuvenate its values and political system.
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